FAIR, Indiana Take Sanctuary Jurisdiction to Court

FAIR's complaint shows blocking ICE violates Indiana law

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, representing the state of Indiana as outside counsel, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in partnership with Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, sued the town of Merrillville, Indiana, for violating an Indiana law mandating cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement.

The issue is detention space for illegal or criminal aliens apprehended either by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers or state law enforcement officers trained and empowered to enforce immigration laws themselves. Unless those apprehended can be detained pending their removal proceedings, they usually will fail to show up for those proceedings and so escape removal.

There is a pressing shortage of detention space in Indiana and elsewhere. To create more of it, ICE has sought to buy or rent property in Indiana that can be converted to detention facilities. In response, the town of Merrillville has passed an ordinance blocking such sales or rentals, and town officials have pressured property owners to pull out of discussions with ICE about entering such contracts.

As the complaint shows, this ordinance and pressure violate Indiana's anti-sanctuary law, which provides that localities in the state "may not limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law." Federal law permits—indeed, encourages—ICE to make contracts with private entities to provide detention facilities. Merrillville's efforts to block those contracts obviously limit and restrict enforcement, since enforcement fails altogether whenever an illegal or criminal alien is not detained and so avoids removal by not appearing at removal proceedings.

"Given the way federal law is written, adequate detention space is crucial for full enforcement of our immigration laws," said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of FAIR. "Merrillville is brazenly trying to hobble that enforcement by blocking ICE from expanding detention space. We hope the court sees this clearly, strikes down Merrillville's ordinance, and imposes the monetary penalties on defendants called for in the anti-sanctuary law."

To view the Indiana Attorney General's press release, click here.

To see the complaint, click here.

To schedule an interview with one of FAIR's spokespersons, please contact Hayley Hill at [email protected].

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SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)