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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed motions in federal court Tuesday asking that the federal government be joined as a necessary party to the state’s immigration lawsuit.
Zoeller said the federal government is a necessary party for the legal arguments in the suit, Buquer, et al. v. City of Indianapolis, et al., No. 1:11-CV-708, filed in May on behalf of plaintiffs who say Senate Enrolled Act 590, now Public Law 171-2011, will allow police to wrongly arrest people and penalize immigrants for using their consular identification cards. Without the U.S.’s involvement, Indiana is subject to a substantial risk of inconsistent or multiple judgments based upon the potential for future litigation by the federal government regarding the same matters, Zoeller wrote in the motion to join a necessary party.
Judge Sarah Evans Barker in the Southern District of Indiana granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in June, blocking the enforcement of two provisions: one that deals with arrests of illegal immigrants subject to immigration court removal orders; the other prohibiting the use of foreign consular identification cards as ID in Indiana. The plaintiffs have also filed a motion for a permanent injunction. Zoeller decided not to appeal the preliminary ruling.
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