Indiana AG Todd Rokita threatens legal action against Monroe County sheriff over undocumented immigration policy in letter

In a letter Sent to Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté on May 14, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita asked Monroe County to rescind its local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy. United. Rokita threatened to sue the county “to force it to comply with Indiana law” if he does not receive confirmation that the policy has been rescinded by July 1.

Monroe County directive In the question allows undocumented immigrants to be released from jail without being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they have ties to Monroe County and have been charged with minor crimes. The policy has been part of Monroe County Jail guidelines since 2014. In 2018, it was reviewed and approved by then-Sheriff Brad Swain.

In 2020, according to Herald-Times And Indiana Public medicineASwain said his administration would always recognize an existing ICE flag on a person's record and honor a specific request from ICE to detain a person, whether or not they have been booked on a low-level charge.

When a person is booked, Swain said, the fingerprint information collected by the department goes into a database accessible by ICE; Federal immigration agents can then request that Monroe County hold a detainer until ICE agents arrive, with a federal limit of up to 48 hours. Swain told the Herald-Times that there is no signed agreement between ICE and the Monroe County Sheriff's Department regarding detentions, and that the detentions are simply a courtesy. He said he would consider a person's personal ties to Monroe County, criminal history and the potential risk of release to the safety of the community when determining whether he would detain someone for l 'ICE.

Rokita claimed in the letter that this directive violated a federal law which prohibits states from limiting the sharing of citizenship information with federal immigration officials.

However, the directive does not address information sharing at all; it only gives the Monroe County Jail discretion not to hold an inmate who would otherwise be eligible for release due to acquittal, posting of bond, or other qualifier under the law of State. The department continues to use the fingerprint database accessed by ICE.

A new state law signed by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb in March, gives Rokita the authority and ability to take legal action against governments and universities that fail to comply with “laws requiring cooperation with federal agents of immigration”. The law, cited by Rokita in her letter, comes into force on July 1.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Department was not immediately available for comment, but Chief Deputy Phil Parker previously wrote to Indiana Public Media that “the Monroe County Sheriff's Office is currently in contact with the Attorney General's Office to determine the underlying issues associated with Attorney General Rokita's letter. »

Rokita also sent letters to city officials in East Chicago, Gary and West Lafayette, threatening legal action over similar policies.