Indiana AG Sues Sheriff For Refusing To Enforce Immigration Laws

Indiana’s Attorney General Todd Rokita publicly allied himself to the president’s national immigration enforcement operation last week by announcing a lawsuit against a sheriff he said was maintaining sanctuary city policies. 

“Illegal immigration, as opposed to legal migration, is maybe the biggest issue we are facing right now in our country,” Rokita said at press conference held at South Bend’s County City Building, the base for both the city’s Democrat officials and the county’s Republican ones. “President Joe Biden opened our border and created a crisis that now needs to be fixed. Because of him and his aiders and abettors right here in Indiana, every state is now a border state and every one, including us right here, are paying the price for this lawlessness.” 

Dressed in an American flag tie and having just come from a naturalization ceremony, Rokita called out St. Joseph County’s Sheriff Bill Redman for being part of the problem. Redman, he said, has persistently refused to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on detainment requests. 

St. Joseph County is famous for the University of Notre Dame, and past home to former Transportation Secretary and Democrat “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. While Indiana is a red state, South Bend is more purple. Rokita is a Republican. Redman is a Democrat. 

“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. It is making St. Joseph County act as a magnet to attract more illegals to want to come live here and commit crime here,” Rokita said.

The attorney general noted that the St. Joseph County Police Department failed to honor nine detainer requests from federal immigration law enforcement between March and September 2024, and as many as four more since then. After receiving unsatisfactory responses by Redman to letters sent to him in October and December, and after repeatedly warning that his failure to comply would result in a lawsuit, Rokita sued: “I refuse as your A.G. to just stand here and watch the lawlessness happen from law enforcement officials.”

While Redman’s office, in a Facebook statement, challenged the suit, saying the department does cooperate and communicate with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Rokita replied that ICE doesn’t think so, because ICE listed St. Joseph County as a non-cooperative institution. ”We have a difference of opinion,” Rokita said.

Rokita noted that he has worked successfully in other areas of the state to ensure that police followed the law. He said he worked with West Lafayette police to revise their policies ensuring enforcement of federal immigration laws, and that East Chicago officials also repealed its unlawful immigration ordinance in response to his inquiries. Gary officials, he said, also complied after being pressed. 

Rokita said a law passed last year by Indiana’s General Assembly gave him the right to sue to assure compliance with statutes requiring cooperation with federal immigration officials. State law, he noted, does not require the police to enforce federal law, just to communicate and cooperate with federal law enforcement. This means they also cannot hinder federal law enforcement or help detainees.

Rokita said he also is involved in a lawsuit with the Monroe County sheriff, who refused to cooperate with him on illegal immigration enforcement. Monroe County includes Bloomington, Indiana, home to Indiana University-Bloomington. 

Republican Rep. Rudy Yakym, who represents St. Joseph County, made a statement on X, saying: “Thank you to @AGToddRokita for your work to ensure immigration laws are enforced in St. Joseph County.” 

Rokita said he was already working on illegal immigration enforcement before Donald Trump re-took office, but appreciates now having a partner in the White House. The Indiana General Assembly, according to the Indianapolis Star, is also working on nearly a dozen bills that deal with illegal immigration. 

Rokita emphasized that illegal immigration stresses law enforcement; overwhelms local hospitals, health-care facilities, and schools; and stresses housing and labor markets. He added that he is investigating potential labor trafficking and has sent civil investigative demands to such employers as Tyson Foods in Logansport, the Cass County Health Department, the Logansport Community School Corporation, and the Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation, among others. Civil investigative demands, he noted, are not an accusation of wrongdoing.

Newly elected Republican Sen. Jim Banks and Yakym also expressed concern last year about the huge influx of migrants in Logansport “overwhelming” the city, including the schools, which made national news.

In terms of schools, Rokita said he hasn’t focused on them but has received information about some schools not cooperating with the Trump administration. While Rokita didn’t name Fort Wayne Community Schools — the biggest school district in the state — FWCS sent a parent letter after Trump’s inauguration stating they do not intend to share student or parent immigration status, in order to impede federal immigration enforcement.

Rokita is dedicated to helping stem illegal immigration and said he remains committed to doing his part to rid Indiana of lawbreakers: “I look forward to helping, continue helping, President Trump (to) solve this, to fix it, but it will take the cooperation of all of us, and all of law enforcement.”

Amy Drake is a stay-at-home mom, writer, and St. Joseph County councilwoman in South Bend, Ind.