Denver Voters to Decide if Noncitizens Can Serve as Police

Denver voters will decide Nov. 5 if the city will remove its citizenship requirement for police and fire department jobs.

The change would allow non-citizens who meet certain work and residency requirements to apply for roles in those departments, bringing Denver into compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws. 

City Council voted unanimously on Monday to pass the question on to voters this fall, the Denverite reports.

If passed, applicants would still need to meet a number of physical, mental, age and education requirements that apply to all police and fire recruits. Applications without U.S. citizenship would apply to people with valid work authorization, people with legal permanent residency and those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status who arrived in the country as children.

Many other cities including Aurora, Colorado, already allow non-citizens to serve in police and fire departments. Denver’s Civil Service Commission, a few nonprofits that work with immigrants and leadership from both Fire and Police departments wrote letters in support of the change.