Collage by Mike Wolanin | The Republic Local legislators Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, from left, Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, R-Shelbyville and Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour.
State lawmakers representing parts of Bartholomew County voted in favor of a bill that would mandate local cooperation with federal immigration crackdowns, brushing aside criticism that the measure would misdirect police resources and was un-Christian.
House members voted 61-28 on Thursday in favor of Senate Bill 76, which also would allow the state attorney general’s office to seek sanctions against businesses found to have hired “unauthorized aliens,” The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus; Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour; and Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, R-Shelbyville, all voted in favor of the bill, according to state records. Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, also voted in favor of the bill, though the House made changes to the bill after it passed the Senate.
Democratic legislators repeatedly during debate on the bill denounced the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that have led to turmoil in Minneapolis and other cities, according to wire reports. They also condemned the legislation’s mandate that all police departments, schools and universities comply with the federal agency’s enforcement activities.
Bill sponsor Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, defended the measure as ensuring that Indiana does not have “sanctuary cities” or “sanctuary employers.”
“What this bill does is make sure that we don’t have a situation like what’s happened in Minneapolis, by making sure we do comply and follow federal law,” Prescott said.
The bill would require city and county officials to comply with federal detainer requests for immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.
ICE can place an immigration “hold” or “detainer” on inmates who are deemed removable from the country. This allows jails to hold inmates who would be otherwise eligible for release for an additional 48 hours to give federal immigration authorities time to come pick them up.
For its part, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office has been cooperating with ICE for some time, notifying immigration officials whenever someone who wasn’t born in the U.S. is booked into the Bartholomew County Jail.
However, if ICE does not take the individuals into custody within 48 hours, jail officials are required by law to release them.
The bill would also empower the attorney general’s office to seek civil penalties of $10,000 per knowing and intentional violation by government bodies and public universities. Only county jails would get a warning — and 30 days to make fixes — before facing legal action.
Democrats blasted the bill as diverting local police officers away from focusing on community public safety needs to deal with the federal responsibility of immigration enforcement, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Rep. Cherrish Pryor, D-Indianapolis, said President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown was leading to racial profiling and mistreatment of both citizens and noncitizens.
“Civil rights are being trampled upon and that’s something that should give us a cause for concern,” Pryor said. “Because if we’re willing to throw out our civil rights because of this, what’s going to be next? Do we just throw out civil rights altogether?”
Rep. Kyle Miller, D-Fort Wayne, asked whether the bill abides by the biblical standard of how society “treats the stranger,” according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
“Jesus repeats over and over again, care for the hungry, care for the poor, care for the stranger,” Miller said.
About a dozen protesters chanted slogans against the bill from the corridor outside the House chamber during the debate. That protest followed more than 60 people testifying during a five-hour committee meeting on the issue last week.
All House votes in favor of the bill came from Republicans, with three GOP members — Ed Clere of New Albany, Mark Genda of Frankfort and Danny Lopez of Carmel — joining Democrats in opposition.
The House made numerous changes to the bill version endorsed by the Senate last month, so agreement must be reached on a final version of the bill before the scheduled Feb. 27 adjournment for this year’s legislative session.
Republican House Speaker Todd Huston defended the bill as narrowly focused on aligning Indiana with federal immigration law and discouraging the hiring of workers in the country illegally to create a “level playing field” among businesses.
“We are a country of rule of law and we need to have laws,” Huston said. “We need to enforce laws. We also have to create equality between the businesses and the type of labor that is used to create a competitive environment.”
