By WMBD-TV
SPRINGFIELD – State Reps. Dennis Tipsword of Metamora and Assistant Minority Leader John Cabello filed a bill in the Illinois General Assembly on Friday which they say “clarifies” a law enacted last year that allows non-citizens authorized to carry firearms to be hired as members of law enforcement.
House Bill 5790 restores the citizenship provision for deputies and police officers, which was the case before last year’s amendment.
House Republicans say they were prompted to take this action after a federal judge in Northern Illinois ruled earlier this month that a Mexican man living in the United States illegally had a constitutional right to own a firearm for self-defense. The man was arrested in 2020 for violating a federal that prohibits undocumented immigrants from possessing firearms.
Cabello said, in part, that “we want the legislative intent to be clear: illegal immigrants do not have the right to possess firearms period.”
Tipsword, who is the chief deputy in Woodford County, and Cabello, who serves with the Rockford Police Department, are part of the Republican Truth in Public Safety working group.
On Thursday the working group introduced three bills. One expands the list of detainable offenses based on whether a defendant poses a threat, another revokes a defendant’s pretrial release if they are charged with a new offense and a third reforms the SAFE-T act process for issuing warrants based on a defendant’s failure to appear in court.
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