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Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Public Schools, asking Marion Superior Court to stop the school from maintaining policies and practices that allegedly “frustrate” federal immigration authorities’ ability to enforce federal laws.
Filed on Thursday morning, the complaint says IPS maintains policies that violate Indiana’s anti-sanctuary statute, which prohibits government bodies and higher education institutions from restricting the enforcement of federal immigration laws “to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.”
“The anti-sanctuary law gives my office the authority to sue any local entity that obstructs ICE (the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Rokita said in a video statement. “We’re fighting to make sure our schools are places of learning, not lawlessness.”
The Indiana Lawyer is awaiting a response from IPS after accommodating the school corporation’s request to submit questions in writing.
The lawsuit alleges that in January, ICE contacted the attorney general’s office to express concerns about the difficulty it was experiencing in its interactions with IPS, in connection with the deportation of an unauthorized male Honduran immigrant, who was residing in Indiana at the time.
Reportedly, the man had entered into a voluntary deportation agreement with ICE, and he was scheduled to be deported to Honduras. But one of the man’s children was a student at IPS, who had gone to school the morning of the scheduled deportation.
“After ICE contacted IPS, IPS requested that ICE produce a judicial order concerning the deportation of the son or demonstrate that there were exigent circumstances that would justify ICE taking the son into custody,” the complaint stated. “IPS took the position that it would not release the child to an ICE officer unless the officer had a judicial warrant or other court order. ICE responded that it simply was asking that the son be released to the father so that they could depart the country as the father had agreed to do and that such action did not require a court order.”
An IPS teacher put the son in touch with a private immigration attorney, the complaint stated, and after several hours of conversations between ICE and IPS’s counsel, the two parties were unable to reach an agreement for the father to take custody of his son in time to make his deportation flight. The father missed his flight, and the voluntary departure order expired.
After the incident, the attorney general’s office issued a civil investigative demand against IPS and found that, in 2017, the IPS Board of School Commissioners adopted a resolution that provides that “IPS employees shall not assist immigration enforcement efforts unless legally required and authorized to do so by the Superintendent.”
According to the complaint, IPS responded to Rokita’s demand, modifying some of its policies. The attorney general’s office determined the modifications “did next to nothing” to fix what it considers “legal infirmities.”
In October, Rokita sent IPS another letter to address the policies. IPS reportedly did not respond by the Oct. 17 deadline and asked for an extension.
The attorney general’s office then gave IPS until Oct. 28 to respond. The office says it has yet to receive a response.
With Thursday’s suit, IPS joins two Indiana sheriffs who have been sued by the Republican attorney general for allegedly hindering ICE’s enforcement of federal immigration law.
Last year, Rokita brought a complaint against Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté, a Democrat, for instituting a policy that allegedly violates Indiana law by restricting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
And in January, Rokita brought a similar suit against St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman, also a Democrat. The St. Joseph Circuit Court recently ruled against the state in Redman’s case. Rokita has appealed that decision to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The American First Policy Institute, a right-leaning think tank and nonprofit organization, is serving as special counsel in this case, Rokita and the institute’s executive director, Chad Wolf, announced on Thursday.
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