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“Is President Donald Trump’s approach to deporting immigrants living here illegally the right one?”
A large majority of Hoosiers voted for President Trump because they believed his promises to improve economic security and quality of life for families. Instead, the president’s actions during his first weeks back in office have made our communities more vulnerable.
Hoosiers might have trusted that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump would target only people convicted of violent crimes, but officers are indiscriminately arresting community members who have never had contact with the criminal legal system, including people who are victims themselves.
National Immigrant Justice Center legal workers recently rushed to Clay County Jail, where ICE detains immigrants in Indiana, to assist a mother of four U.S. citizen children who had been detained after ICE came to her home. By the time our team arrived at the jail, the mom, who is a survivor of domestic violence and therefore eligible for protection from deportation, had been sent to another state to be deported.
Our immigration laws have long been out of step with the needs of our country. Unfortunately, Indiana lawmakers are perpetuating the president’s anti-immigrant hate rather than doing what is best for our communities. Last week, Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive action encouraging law enforcement to assist ICE. The Indiana General Assembly is considering legislation ordering local police to cooperate with ICE.
Such a requirement would strain local law enforcement, erode community trust, and expose localities to liability when police invariably misapply our complex immigration laws. It would prevent police from doing their jobs and redirect critical community resources, including those needed to protect crime victims. Fear of police harms everyone when people become afraid of calling for help when they need it.
Furthermore, Attorney General Todd Rokita announced baseless investigations of Indiana businesses and municipalities that have employed and served newcomers. He disingenuously claims he is disrupting trafficking schemes when, in fact, he is targeting organizations that provide protection for trafficking victims.
Rokita recently described a naturalization ceremony he attended, explaining that those he witnessed taking the oath of citizenship were people who “did it the right way.” But many of those new citizens overcame legal obstacles and toiled for years in systemic backlogs. Some probably entered the United States without permission so they could seek asylum after fleeing danger in their homelands. Rokita was right that those he witnessed were good people, but so are most of those he and the president scapegoat, misrepresent and target.
Hoosiers deserve to have concerns about public safety taken seriously—everyone has a right to safe neighborhoods, good schools and affordable housing. But while the Trump administration has been spending enormous resources flying immigrants on military planes, setting up camps in Guantanamo, and lining the pockets of private prison companies, Hoosiers continue to deal with difficult choices: rent or groceries, medicine or utilities.
We need our leaders to dispense with their destructive, expensive antics around immigration and focus on real solutions to strengthen our communities.•
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Koop is national director of legal services at the National Immigrant Justice Center. She is based
in Goshen. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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