The Department of Justice levied a $10,000 fine against the Denver Sheriff's Department for discriminating against non-citizens — making citizenship a requirement to carry a badge and gun, The Daily Caller reported.
The department's hiring of 200 U.S. citizens actually violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), according to the DOJ's release.
"The Justice Department reached a settlement today resolving claims that the Denver Sheriff Department discriminated against work-authorized immigrants," the DOJ release stated. "The INA's anti-discrimination provision prohibits employers from limiting jobs to U.S. citizens except where the employer is required to do so by law, regulation, executive order or government contract. The Denver Sheriff Department was not subject to one of the INA’s exceptions."
More than 40 states have laws restricting non-citizens from being police officers, but Colorado is not one of them, a fact the Denver Sheriff's Department did not know, the Caller reported.
No state law means violation of federal law.
"Eliminating this unlawful citizenship requirement will help ensure that the Denver Sheriff Department hires the best and most qualified individuals to protect and serve," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "The entire community will benefit from these reforms."
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