No, ATF did not change rules to allow 'illegal' immigrants to possess guns | Fact check

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·5 min read
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ATF agent Jared Lowe fires a modified handgun during a November demonstration by federal prosecutors in Oklahoma City. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives does not allow people unlawfully in the U.S. to buy or own guns.
ATF agent Jared Lowe fires a modified handgun during a November demonstration by federal prosecutors in Oklahoma City. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives does not allow people unlawfully in the U.S. to buy or own guns.

Instagram video: The ATF changed regulations to allow ‘illegal immigrants’ to acquire firearms

Our rating: False

A Dec. 22, 2023, Instagram video shows a woman speaking about supposed changes in gun ownership regulations for noncitizens.

“So my husband owns a gun shop, and he just called me to tell me that the ATF has made updates to their background check policy, and effective today they give an exemption to illegal immigrants to be able to purchase firearms,” the woman says. “Now, this strangely coincides with California, New York and Chicago, making it legal for illegals to be police officers.”

The video was liked more than 40,000 times in a week.

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This is wrong on all counts. Federal law prohibits people in the country unlawfully from possessing firearms, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives cannot change those regulations on its own. And no law enforcement agency is hiring officers who are not lawfully in the country.

Federal laws ban immigrants in US illegally from purchasing or possessing guns

The bulk of federal law governing who can legally possess firearms in the U.S. is spelled out in 18 U.S.C. 922, established by the Gun Control Act of 1968 and amended by subsequent legislation. It lists groups of people who are not allowed to possess firearms, and the prohibitions still on the books include several categories of noncitizens, according to ATF spokesperson Johnny Michael.

Those prohibit include anyone who is an “illegal alien” along with anyone who has renounced U.S. citizenship, according to the law. Federal firearm regulations must be based on that law, Michael explained.

“ATF cannot change statutory prohibition categories,” Michael told USA TODAY in an email.

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Guidance flyers from the ATF in 2020 point to those restrictions as well as clarifying that people lawfully in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa largely may not possess a firearm. Exceptions were made for use with a valid hunting license or permit, being an “official representative of a foreign government” who meets certain criteria or being “a foreign law enforcement officer of a friendly foreign government entering the United States on official law enforcement business.”

It is possible the claim stems from a misunderstanding of guidance the FBI issued in August 2023 that noted that refugees should be considered “immigrant aliens” when assessing eligibility. That distinction opens the door for firearm possession if certain criteria are met. But it doesn't refer to people in the country illegally.

Police departments only hire lawful residents or citizens

The video makes a secondary claim that “illegals” are allowed to serve on police departments in California, Chicago and New York. USA TODAY has previously debunked claims that people in the country unlawfully can be police officers in California and Illinois, which stemmed from misstatements about laws both states passed allowing certain legal noncitizens to serve in police departments.

California has allowed those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program who meet certain criteria to join law enforcement agencies. DACA provides lawful status and permission to work for some individuals who were brought to the country as children and do not otherwise have lawful status.

In December 2023, the Los Angeles Police Department said it would adjust policies to require officers to carry their service firearms off-duty. Without that change, DACA recipients serving as police officers might have had to turn in their official weapons after each shift. By making it part of their official duties, police officials said they believed it would be legal for those officers to carry weapons at all times.

In Illinois, the law allowing certain noncitizens lawfully in the U.S. to apply for jobs with police departments went into effect Jan. 1. The bill allows DACA recipients and other noncitizens to apply for jobs as police officers, but they must be legally able to carry a firearm to get such jobs.

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Guidance flyers from the ATF in 2020 point to those restrictions as well as clarifying that people lawfully in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa largely may not possess a firearm. Exceptions were made for use with a valid hunting license.

A New York Police Department spokesperson referred USA TODAY to the city’s page for hiring police officers, which says it only hires U.S. citizens.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Lead Stories and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Federal law bars those unlawfully in US from having guns | Fact check