California made it legal for DACA immigrants to work as police. Which departments are hiring them?
Quick Summary
- Officer Ernesto Moron became the first officer hired by the UC Davis Police Department under a 1-year-old California law that lets law enforcement departments hire immigrants legally under the federal DACA program.
Dressed in a pristine dark blue uniform, Ernesto Moron raised his right hand and swore to defend the constitution of a state he wasn’t born in but that he has called home for more than two decades.
That December afternoon, the 26-year-old Mexican-born man became the first officer hired by the UC Davis Police Department under a 1-year-old California law that repealed the U.S. citizenship requirement to become a peace officer in the state.
“I was always told to be afraid of police officers because I would get deported,” Moron recently told CalMatters. “Now I want to help this community and help other people that are in my same shoes.”