Illegal Border Crossings Today:

Indiana Sues East Chicago and Monroe County for Violating State's Anti-Sanctuary Law

a court gavel in an anti-sanctuary case

FAIR Take | July 2024

Last week, Indiana Attorney General (AG) Todd Rokita filed two lawsuits against local jurisdictions seeking to strike down their sanctuary policies. On July 8, AG Rokita sued the City of East Chicago, claiming its 2017 welcoming ordinance violates the state’s ban on sanctuary cities, enacted in 2011. On July 12, Rokita filed another lawsuit against Monroe County, claiming that the sheriff’s policy barring law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration agents also violates the law.

The attorney general’s standing to sue these two localities is the result of a legislative effort led by FAIR. Earlier this year, FAIR encouraged the Indiana legislature to adopt new legislation that would help enforce the state’s anti-sanctuary law. Working with state officials, FAIR helped draft Senate Bill (SB) 181 which gave Indiana’s Attorney General the authority to sue localities for adopting laws or policies that violate the state’s anti-sanctuary law. Both houses of the Indiana legislature passed the legislation in March, which was scheduled to take effect July 1.

Once the legislation was passed, AG Rokita wasted no time. In May, he sent letters to four municipalities, East Chicago, Gary, West Lafayette, and Monroe County, urging them to rescind their sanctuary policies. He advised these localities that he planned to pursue legal action in July if they did not comply with the state’s anti-sanctuary law.

In response, West Lafayette removed language from its policy that said “no individual should be held based solely on a federal immigration detainer.” The other municipalities did not act, prompting AG Rokita to sue the City of East Chicago and Monroe County while continuing to evaluate legal action against Gary.

This is not the first time that action has been taken against East Chicago for violating the state’s anti-sanctuary law. In 2017, both East Chicago and Gary passed “welcoming resolutions” and were sued by state residents for violating Indiana’s anti-sanctuary law. But after years of litigation, in July 2022, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that Indiana state residents did not have standing to sue the City of Gary, and the case was dismissed. The Court’s decision essentially gutted Indiana’s anti-sanctuary law by making it unenforceable.

In light of the Court’s decision, when the 2023 legislative session began, FAIR worked with Senator Eric Koch (R-Bedford) and AG Rokita’s staff to draft language that would instead give the Attorney General standing to sue localities with sanctuary policies, thereby allowing the law to be enforced. Senator Koch incorporated the language into one of his bills, SB 178, which passed the Senate but died in the House Judiciary Committee. Not deterred, in January 2024, Senator Koch reintroduced legislation (SB 181). As noted above, the bill sailed through the Senate and House and was quickly signed by Governor Eric Holcomb in March.

AG Rokita hailed the passage of SB 181 saying, “We have a new statute that supports the rule of law thanks to the leadership of the General Assembly, and I intend to enforce it because illegal immigration is unfair to the good people of this state and those who worked hard to enter our country legally.” Having now sued two localities that shield illegal aliens, with potentially more lawsuits to come, the legislation is another tool state officials can use to protect their citizens from the disastrous impacts of the border crisis.