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It’s been about seven months since Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita first announced he would be investigating illegal immigration on a broad scale throughout the state, with his office issuing civil investigative demands to multiple businesses, nonprofits and religious organizations.
The Haitian Center of Evansville and Berry Global are challenging the attorney general’s CIDs in court, and it’s unclear whether other entities are complying with state’s requests for information regarding their interactions with immigrants.
Pat Shoulders, a partner with Ziemer, Stayman, Weitzel & Shoulders, LLP who is representing the Haitian Center, said the organization is trying to consolidate its case with another one involving Berry Global, a major packaging company based in Evansville that also received a CID from Rokita’s office.
Both Berry Global and the Haitian Center are seeking to quash the attorney general’s information requests. Shoulders said there is a July 2 hearing in Vanderburgh County to consider that consolidation.
“It’s clear this has little to do with illegal immigration and everything to do with the political aspirations of the attorney general,” Shoulders said of Rokita and his use of the CIDs.
At least eight organizations, from Logansport to Evansville, have received the demands.
Both the Haitian Center and Berry Global have previously argued in court that Rokita has yet to provide any evidence as to why there is reasonable cause for him to seek information from them.
Rokita initially announced in November his office is investigating coordinated efforts among “refugee resettlement” organizations and employers to bring large numbers of migrants to Indiana communities.
He said the “rapid growth of alien populations in certain communities has caused overcrowding in housing facilities as multiple families and sometimes dozens of individuals reportedly share space in structures intended to be single-family dwellings. It also has raised concerns about potential labor trafficking.”
Rokita’s office said it is conducting these investigations pursuant to its authority under Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and indecent nuisance statute.
At least one attorney from the office has said publicly the demand is not an accusation of wrongdoing.
For this story, the attorney general’s office did not respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s multiple requests for comment on how many CIDs it has issued since November, which businesses/nonprofits, religious organizations have received them and how many entities have chosen to comply with the state.
The Lawyer also asked if the office had any reply to Shoulders’ remarks that the entire probe is purely to promote Rokita’s political career..
“Our CIDs are a key tool in our investigation of potential labor trafficking. It’s a serious issue that has been exacerbated by the influx of illegal aliens that have poured into Indiana thanks to the reckless open border policies of the Biden administration,” an office spokesperson said in an email to The Lawyer. “We take these investigations seriously and will continue pursuing them vigorously until we get to the bottom of what’s causing labor trafficking throughout the state.”
Until a few months ago, civil investigative demands had rarely, if ever, been used in Indiana as a tool in an immigration-related inquiry.
Jenifer Brown, a co-founder of Brown Glier Law LLC in Indianapolis who advises businesses on immigration matters, told The Lawyer in March she’s never had a client receive a civil investigative demand.
However, she said she was aware of a couple instances recently in Virginia and Texas where state attorney generals had used the demands in efforts to obtain immigration-related information.•
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