Seattle to use illegal migrants to bolster depleted police force after losing 700 officers in just five years

Seattle has become the latest Dem-run city trying to replace an exodus of police officers with illegal migrants.

Washington's largest city has just 913 cops to serve its 750,000 people after losing 725 officers in the last five years.

Now its police department has tweaked the rules to allow applications from migrants who crossed the border illegally as children and are registered on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), or 'Dreamers', program.

And under a law change signed by Democrat Governor Jay Inslee in February they can be chosen above an equally qualified candidate if they speak more than one language.

Radio host Jason Rantz tells NewsNation's Morning in America, 'I think if you have anyone who is qualified and willing to do the job, including qualified Americans who speak another language, they should be treated just as equally as everybody else.'

'So each person who shows up for an interview has to admit to committing a felony,' one retired officer wrote on X. 'A federal trial should take place prior to any hiring I would assume?'

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation in March which cleared the last legal obstacle to former illegal child migrants joining the state's police departments

The department now has just 913 cops to serve its 750,000 people after losing 725 officers in the last five years, according to a survey in April by KUOW 

More than 500,000 people in the US registered under the Obama-era DACA program before it was rescinded by Donald Trump in 2017.

While they are allowed to work in the US under a renewable two-year work permit, restrictions on carrying firearms had previously barred them from police work.

But in a memo last year the Justice Department stated that 'DACA recipients can possess duty firearms and possess ammunition as part of their official law enforcement officer duties'.

Seattle Police previously restricted applications to those who 'hold a United States citizenship, OR have legal permanent residency in the US,' but updated its LinkedIn page last week.

'The Seattle Police Department is now accepting applications from DACA recipients,' it reads.

Overall crime rose eight per cent in the city between 2019 and 2024, with burglaries up 12 percent, assaults up 21 percent, and murders up a frightening 78 percent.

On May 29 police chief Adrian Diaz became the latest to leave the department amid allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

It came months after retiring officer released a scathing resignation letter accusing him of 'failed leadership' that 'accelerated this city's downhill slide straight to rock bottom.'

Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz stepped down last month amid allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination 

Lieutenant Jessica Taylor, who served in the Seattle Police Department for 23 years, handed in her notice - but instead of filling out a mandatory exit survey, she decided to write a long-winded letter addressed to the police chief

'Your controlling, bullying, and gaslighting tendencies have wreaked havoc on this department, driving away talented and dedicated officers,' Lieutenant Jessica Taylor wrote as she left after 23 years.

'People are getting hurt and killed in this city, left and right,' she added.

'I bet most of the citizens of Seattle would love to be able to walk outside at night or mosey into downtown Seattle and not be afraid.

There are around 500,000 people registered on the DACA program introduced by then-president Barack Obama in 2012  

'But they can't, and that's your fault. You've failed them. You've failed us.'

Four female officers filed a $5 million claim against the department in April over 'grooming', 'active sexism' and 'predatory behavior' with one single out Diaz in her claim.

More drama enveloped the department on Monday night he came out as 'a gay Latino man' in an interview with a local radio station.

'I want to make sure people understand who I am,' he told KTTH 770 AM.

'It's not easy when you have some false allegations against you. I don't want to have any secrets if I decide to go to another city.'

Joe Biden promised last week to ease access to work visas for DACA recipients who have earned a degree from a US college or university, and received a high-skilled job offer, and he urged Congress to give them permanent status.

'Give me a break,' he said at a meeting of Hispanic power brokers in the White House Rose Garden.

'These have been model citizens. Congress has to act. We are a nation of immigrants and we shouldn't forget it.'

DACA program recipient Mitchell Soto Rodriguez testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month after joining The Blue Island police department in the south side of Chicago

Joe Biden promised last week to ease access to work visa for DACA recipients who have earned a degree from a US college or university and received a high-skilled job offer, as he urged Congress to give them permanent status

Seattle is not the first city to consider DACA program migrants as police officers after Illinois, Colorado and California passed laws to allow them to apply for law enforcement jobs.

Ernesto Antonio Moron Uribe, 26, became an officer of California's UC Davis Police Department in February, and Mitchell Soto Rodriguez testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month after joining The Blue Island police department in the south side of Chicago.

She arrived from Mexico as an eight-year-old in 2005 and was inspired to become a police officer after witnessing the compassionate approach of an officer who helped her after a car crash.

'Even if it looks hard or impossible, never give up,' she said as she was sworn in. One day it will come to you. Keep fighting for it.

'If one door closes, keep knocking. Keep knocking. It's going to open.'