DENVER, Colo. (Nov. 24, 2016) – In yet another example of extreme federal overreach, the U.S. Department of Justice recently fined the Denver County Sheriff’s Office because it disqualified non-citizens from applying for open deputy positions.
In early 2015, the sheriff’s office kicked of a major hiring push, adding more than 200 deputies. The department ran afoul of federal law when it made U.S. citizenship a specific condition of employment. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, employers must give equal treatment to non-citizens who possess valid work permits unless federal, state or local law explicitly mandates citizenship as a requirement for a specific job. Because neither Colorado nor Denver County requires law enforcement officers to be citizens, the feds claim the sheriff’s office cannot exclude non-citizens from its hiring process.
According to the Daily Caller, the Denver County Sheriff’s Office settled the case, agreeing to pay a $10,000 fine and to give due consideration to any non-citizen who applied for deputy jobs over the past two years.
This might lead you to ask, “What constitutional authority does the federal government have to dictate a county sheriff office’s hiring policy?”
The answer is none.
But when has that ever stopped the federal government from doing anything?
