On May 8th, 2024, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient and police officer Mitchell Soto-Rodriguez testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to reaffirm the vitality of Dreamers to our communities. 

Officer Soto-Rodriguez of Blue Island, IL, had dreamed of being a police officer since her sophomore year of high school, when a car accident led to a pivotal encounter with local law enforcement. The police officer at the scene assisted her and her mother despite their language-barrier, and planted a seed of aspiration for Officer Soto-Rodriguez. Despite the challenges of her citizenship status, Officer Soto-Rodriguez continued to pursue a career in law enforcement. Through a security guard position at a local high school, she came into contact with Chief of Police Geoffery Farr in Blue Island, Illinois. 

Chief Farr has been an active member of the Law Enforcement and Immigration Task Force (LEITF) since December of 2023. The Chief advocated for the city of Blue Island to change their guidelines on hiring DACA recipients as officers. In 2023, these requests were finally granted.  

Not only did this change open the door for Officer Soto-Rodriguez, but multiple other DACA recipients began training at the Blue Island Police Department.  

Since the introduction of DACA in June of 2012, recipients (also knowns as “Dreamers”, in reference to the Congress proposals entitled DREAM Act) have been positively impacting American communities nationwide. Data shows that 343,000 Dreamers work jobs that are deemed essential by the Department of Homeland Security; which is more than three quarters of Dreamers in the workforce. Additionally, Dreamer households pay $6.2 billion in federal taxes and $3.3 billion in state and local taxes per year. 

In July of 2023, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed bill HB 3751 into law, which states that “An individuals who is not a citizen but is legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law is authorized to apply for the position of police officer,” effective as of Jan. 2024. With over 30,000 DACA recipients living and working in Illinois in addition to officer shortages statewide, this bill will have a great impact on local law enforcement.  

DACA recipients are our co-workers, friends, neighbors, classmates, and family members. The contributions they make to our society continue to benefit all Americans, and it is clear that Americans want solutions for the Dreamer community. 

The testimony from Officer Soto-Rodriguez echoed these sentiments, and enforced the ideology that Dreamers make our lives better. With the assistance of Chief Farr, Officer Soto-Rodriguez demonstrated how these essential members of our community should also be able to protect and serve. “Providing Dreamers with pathways to citizenship isn’t just a matter of fairness; it’s an investment in the future of our nation” (Officer Soto-Rodriguez).  

Blue Island is one of the first, but not the last of police departments changing their policies to recognize and honor the work of Dreamers. 

The testimony by Officer Soto-Rodriguez can be read here.  

The LEITF would like to thank Katie Borgeson, Summer Intern, for her contribution to this blog post.