Should cities employ immigrant police? (part 1)

Many cities are struggling to build forces that are more racially diverse. That has pushed some departments to open up jobs to noncitizen permanent residents. In Oakland, California, 17 percent of the population is Asian, while the police force is only 12 percent Asian — but that’s up from 9 percent Asian in 2000. Assistant Chief Paul Figueroa thinks noncitizens have as much of a commitment to being officers as citizens. But some critics, like Mark Kirkorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for immigration reduction, says there’s a real danger to hiring citizens of other countries as police officers in the U.S.