Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) filed a lawsuit against the St. Joseph County Police Department and Sheriff William Redman for their refusal to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
“This deliberate decision to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities is giving safe harbor to criminal aliens that need to be removed from our country and this county,” Rokita said during a press conference, declaring, “I refuse as your attorney general to just stand by and watch the lawlessness happen from law enforcement officials.”
The police department said that it communicates with ICE. “He stated that we do not cooperate with ICE, which is false. We regularly communicate with ICE,” the statement read. “When the jail receives a detainer or request from ICE, staff promptly informs immigration officials when that individual will be released on their criminal charges for detainment by ICE.”
“We also remind the Attorney General that neither state nor federal law require the Sheriff or the Jail to enforce federal immigration laws. Sheriff and the department fully comply with all state and federal laws, and will now unfortunately have to defend itself in court against the State of Indiana,” the police department said.
“In a publicly available report prepared by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June 2024, ICE designated SJCPD as a noncooperative law enforcement agency,” the lawsuit says.
Rokita sent a letter to Sheriff Redman over the matter. The police department responded by asserting they “do not maintain any immigration-related policy that violates state law,” the filing explains. The police department and sheriff further claimed they “do not prohibit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration law by ICE or any other agency empowered by the Department of Homeland Security.”
“Notably absent from Defendants’ response was any discussion of whether Defendants place limits or restrictions on their own engagement in immigration enforcement activities, such as by honoring ICE detainers,” the lawsuit says.
“Defendants’ deliberate and persistent refusal to cooperate with ICE is inconsistent with the requirements of state law and constitutes a clear restriction on the ability of Defendants’ officers and agents to cooperate with federal agencies or otherwise assist or engage in the enforcement of federal immigration laws,” the filing notes.
