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An Indiana House proposal that advanced Thursday would require local law enforcement to give federal authorities notice when they arrest people who are reasonably believed to be in the country illegally.
House Bill 1393 drew opposition from those concerned it could ensnare non-white citizens and others with different forms of legal status, but support from those wishing to better enforce the nation’s immigration laws. Lawmakers criss-crossed party lines in an 8-2 committee vote.
That was after the House’s public safety committee softened the language and added more details in a substantial amendment, taken by consent.
In the revised legislation, if a law enforcement officer arrests someone on misdemeanor or felony charges, and has probable cause to believe the arrestee doesn’t have legal permission to be in the country, the officer or their agency must notify the county sheriff during intake. The sheriff must report the information to federal authorities, like U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Probable cause, the reasonable and fact-based belief that a crime has been committed, is a higher standard than before. The bill originally required only “reasonable suspicion” — and would’ve applied to people summoned for infractions.
“The determination is not made just based off of pulling a person off the street,” said author Rep. Garrett Bascom, R-Lawrenceburg. Instead, he said later, it’s “made primarily on the lack of the identification when the officer is checking that.”
“When you’re arresting a person for a felony or misdemeanor, the officer, in order to charge, that they’re going to need some identifying information, whether that be a license, the social security number, even a name, they can start to look you up,” Bascom said.
His amendment stripped out a requirement specifying that law enforcement hand over a person’s name, address and “any other relevant identifying information” — in favor of a simple notification.
The bill additionally offers law enforcement officers and agencies civil immunity if they reasonably believe the notification has been given.
“A lot of these agencies, they communicate these things via fax, believe it or not,” Bascom said. “They don’t know if federal authorities’ fax machine is down on the other end. So, if they have a good faith belief that they’ve attempted to make notification, they’re covered.”
Greg Serbon, a Hoosier active in several anti-“sanctuary city” lawsuits, said he “wholeheartedly” supported the legislation.
“Once you already got somebody arrested, maybe already unarmed and in police custody, it makes it a lot easier for the police to deal with the person,” Serbon said. “And if they’re already committing crime, why should you release them back into the community?”
Others said the changes could lead to unintended consequences for Hoosiers who don’t have identification on their person at the time of an arrest.
“We can say all we want that it is not based on race, but we know that the majority of people in this country associate undocumented status with people who look like me and who are darker. This is going to give a green light for racial profiling,” said Carolina Castoreno, the director of operations and programming for Indiana Latino Expo.
She described having paid a ticket that was registered in the wrong court, resulting in an improperly suspended license. Then, she got pulled over.
“I was detained, and I was questioned about my status,”Castoreno said. “I speak perfect English. I am a citizen of this country. I did not happen to have my social security card on me at the time, and even though I had my driver’s license, that wasn’t enough for them.”
Dakota Faulkner, an associate pastor at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, went further, calling the legislation “racist.”
“I’m sure there are people in this room who have been arrested for small misdemeanor charges in this country and they have never asked for their legal status,” Faulkner said. “Because they have skin that looks like mine, and like many of the people around this table.”
Immigrants with legal status could also be affected, witnesses warned.
Matt McNally, who unsuccessfully ran for the Statehouse, said he and his wife are hosting an Afghan family with refugee status. The family only has passports and an I-94 form.
McNally suggested lawmakers add a waiting period of 24, 36 or 48 hours for arrestees to produce documents, adding, “Do these people who fled the Taliban have to then worry about ICE raiding their home?”
Chris Daley, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, said that not all people with legal status have access to driver’s licenses. They may have forms of proof that officers are unfamiliar with.
“This is going to be incredibly confusing for your line officers to be able to enforce, and because of that, they’re going to rely back on the issues that we’re all concerned about, with racial and linguistic profiling,” Daley said.
Author Bascom assured opponents that the bill “is not an automatic deportation” — just a notice to ICE.
Supportive committee members defended the legislation’s motivation, with Seymour Rep. Jim Lucas noting that 500 unaccompanied children have come through his community. He feared human trafficking was at play.
“We know nationwide, there are a minimum of 300,000 children that have been lost in this process, and that turns my stomach,” Lucas said. “This is an effort to begin to turn that around, to restore some law and order, as is the right of the state … So yes, this is an emotional topic, I get that, but we have to do something to turn around the horrors of what we’ve been seeing.”
Two lawmakers crossed party lines in the 8-2 vote.
Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, said the amendment led him to vote in support. Rep. Becky Cash, R-Zionsville, apologized and said she was “struggling” with various provisions before voting against it.
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