Citizenship No Longer Required for LA County Jobs

Los Angeles County supervisor Hilda Solis hosted a property league Nov. 22 against hatred crimes and successful enactment of migrant communities (Courtesy of Hilda Solis)

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously connected July 26 to let the region to prosecute noncitizens, but for the positions wherever U.S. citizenship is required by authorities and national law.

Under the caller “inclusive hiring” policy, each departments indispensable waive the citizenship request for some existent and aboriginal region positions. However, applicants for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and bid officers person to beryllium U.C. citizens.

“Los Angeles County is simply a assemblage of immigrants from each country of the world,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said successful a statement. “And portion our County-government workforce reflects the assemblage it represents, determination is country for improvement.”

Additionally, the committee should besides guarantee that applicants “are reasonably and equitably considered, without respect to nationalist origin, citizenship oregon different non-merit factors that are not substantially related to palmy show of the duties of the position,” according to the motion.

In June 2021, the committee approved a motion—introduced by Solis and Supervisor Sheila Kuehl—to nonstop the County Counsel and the Department of Human Resources to measure if the committee has the authorization to waive immoderate citizenship request for board-appointed region offices.

The section aboriginal recommended that the committee region citizenship arsenic a request for astir positions erstwhile citizenship is not mandated by law.

The region is successful fierce contention successful hiring well-qualified attorneys and waiving the citizenship request volition alteration this situation, according to Solis and Kuehl’s motion.

“The County wants to supply culturally competent services and pull high-quality occupation candidates, but some goals are made much hard by an out-of-date request that lone U.S. citizens are eligible for definite classes of County jobs,” Kuehl said successful a statement.