After the Lake County Sheriff’s Department said it always cooperated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, representatives from the Indiana attorney general’s office say the claim is inaccurate.
In a Friday email to the Post-Tribune, Press Secretary Slayde Settle said a June 2024 report “clearly identified Lake County as a jurisdiction that does not honor ICE detainers.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department did not comply until February, Settle said ICE confirmed.
“Any suggestion that Lake County has always been fully cooperative with federal authorities or (compliant) with state law is not true,” Settle said.
Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez was unavailable Friday, and the department could not answer questions sent by the Post-Tribune, spokeswoman Pamela Jones said in an email.
Hammond City Jail was another jurisdiction listed as non-cooperative with ICE, according to the report. Hammond Police spokesman Cpt. Steve Kellogg was unable to comment on the report.
ICE was unable to immediately comment on whether Hammond and Lake County are now cooperative. The agency was also unable to send updated detainer numbers.
On Thursday, Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a news release that he sent multiple warnings to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, saying a lawsuit would follow if the agency didn’t work with ICE. Rokita did not mention Hammond in the release.
“With the Lake County Sheriff’s Department now honoring ICE detainers, criminal aliens will be deported rather than just simply being released back into our communities,” Rokita said in Thursday’s news release. “Eliminating another sanctuary jurisdiction from our state is a major win for the rule of law and for Hoosier taxpayers. We will continue our ongoing conversations with ICE and Lake County to ensure they are compliant with Indiana law. We do reserve our right at all times to enforce state law, even when it comes to the County Sheriff.”
Rokita’s news release included two letters to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department but did not include information from ICE saying that the county isn’t compliant.
Because the ICE detainer report is public, the attorney general’s office did not release it Thursday.
“There was no need to release the letter until Lake (County Sheriff’s Department) put out misinformation,” Settle said in an email.
ICE Deputy Field Office Director Tammy Marich said in a letter to the attorney general’s office that 31 detainers were not honored at the Lake County Jail between March 1, 2024, and Sept. 3, 2024, according to documents sent to the Post-Tribune.
“As a result, AG Rokita’s office reached out to Lake County by letter and asked them to come into compliance,” Settle said in an email. “Lake County initially refused, and it was only after additional letters were sent that Lake County finally came into compliance.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department did not confirm if this information is true or if jail overcrowding is a factor in detainments.
An ICE detainer applies to someone in jail custody and requires additional detention for 48 hours, Settle said in an email.
“There is no reason why this short-term extension of an alien’s detention should cause (an) overcrowding problem,” Settle said.
The timing of when a detainer is issued and honored by local law enforcement depends on when someone is released from custody, Settle said, and not whether they have been convicted of a crime.
In the department’s Thursday news release, Sheriff Oscar Martinez confirmed that Rokita sent letters in October and December but said the attorney general didn’t communicate before. He said the department would have welcomed a conversation with the attorney general.
Settle confirmed that Rokita did not have any prior communication with Martinez. The office typically initiates communication by letter, Settle said.
In an October letter, Rokita told Martinez that he was concerned the sheriff’s department was inconsistent with Indiana Code and “implemented and maintains a policy limiting its and its officers’ cooperation” with the federal agency.
It’s unlawful to prohibit a law enforcement officer from communicating or cooperating with federal officials; sending to or receiving information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; maintaining information; or exchanging information with another government entity, according to Indiana Code.
Agencies also can’t “limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law,” according to Rokita’s letter.
In the December letter, Rokita thanked Martinez for his response and attempts to strengthen the department’s cooperation with ICE, but he still accused the sheriff’s department of not honoring ICE detainers.
On Thursday, Martinez said the sheriff’s department has always cooperated with other agencies; never requested, condoned or participated in efforts to designate the county or jail as a sanctuary location or facility; never implemented or endorsed policy that restricts county police officers from communicating with ICE; and never implemented a policy that restricts officers from complying with detainer requests.
Martinez also said on Thursday that the sheriff’s department recently met with ICE to “discuss the agency’s priorities regarding the notification of illegal immigrants in our jail who have broken the law.”
“Those who break the law in Lake County, regardless of immigration status, will be brought to justice,” Martinez said. “I take the safety of all of our citizens seriously and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure their well-being.”
In January, Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive order that requires Indiana to cooperate fully with the federal government on illegal immigration strategies, offering the assistance of the Indiana National Guard. The Indiana Department of Administration is required to certify state vendor contracts are able to lawfully work in the U.S., according to the executive order.
According to the executive order, state law enforcement agencies must report to the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center “credible evidence of illegal aliens with a prior criminal history and/or are suspected of committing a felony, suspected of engaging in terror or espionage, or who present a significant threat to national security or public safety.”
Settle said Friday that the attorney general has sent letters to various Indiana agencies regarding their compliance. Agencies contacted include East Chicago, West Lafayette Police, Gary, Monroe County, St. Joseph County, Lake County, Indianapolis Public Schools and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police, Settle said.
Rokita, in July, filed a lawsuit against the East Chicago Common Council to comply with federal immigration law, according to Post-Tribune archives. The lawsuit contended the council violates Indiana law “by maintaining an ordinance that restricts taking certain actions regarding information of citizenship or immigration status and limits or restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.”
Rokita also warned Gary, West Lafayette and Monroe County officials to rescind immigration ordinances, or he will take legal action, according to Post-Tribune archives.
In January, spokespeople for both Hammond and Gary’s police departments told the Post-Tribune the agencies hadn’t been called to help with deportations.
The Gary/Chicago International Airport has been involved in deportations, according to Post-Tribune archives, and Executive Director Dan Vicari said the organization plays no role in establishing or enforcing federal immigration policy.
“Like almost every other airport nationwide, GCIA receives federal funding, and the airport’s assurances pertaining to the federal funding prohibits the airport from discriminating against any flight coming in or out of the airport,” Vicari said in a January statement. “This means the airport cannot stop ICE-chartered planes from using the airport. The airport itself does not have any flight servicing contracts with ICE.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
