INDIANAPOLIS (WPTA) – Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit Thursday against Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS).
According to his office, the lawsuit was filed because the district’s policies violate Indiana law and impede federal immigration authorities’ ability to enforce federal law.
“Sanctuary policies are bad in any context, but they are especially troubling in our schools,” said Rokita. “Schools across the country are vulnerable to infiltration by criminal illegal aliens—it’s happened in many other states—and it is essential that ICE be able to take action when that occurs to help keep our kids safe.”
“That’s why my office, with the assistance of America First Policy Institute, is suing IPS to enforce compliance with state law and protect Hoosier schoolchildren.”
Rokita says, despite a warning from his office in February that the district ‘must discontinue its unlawful policies or face legal action’, it has continued to ‘defy Indiana’s anti-sanctuary law’.
According to the attorney general, there are many reasons why school cooperation with federal immigration authorities is important.
Those reasons include that there are ‘nearly 400,000 unaccompanied alien children whom the Biden Administration released into the United States, who are vulnerable to exploitation by human traffickers’ and that ICE needs cooperation when ‘criminal illegal aliens infiltrate school locations’.
America First Policy Institute (AFPI) is serving as special counsel in the case.
“Attorney General Rokita is showing exactly the kind of leadership America needs,” said Leigh Ann O’Neill, AFPI’s chief legal affairs officer. “When state attorneys general act boldly to enforce cooperation with federal immigration law, they help protect families, uphold the rule of law, and stop the political gamesmanship that endangers our communities.”
“We’re proud to support this work — and we stand ready to assist other AGs looking to follow Indiana’s lead.”
The attorney general says Indiana law prohibits local government entities—including school districts—from restricting cooperation with ICE or interfering with federal immigration enforcement.
“We’re fighting to make sure our schools are places of learning, not lawlessness,” said Rokita.
The complaint can be read here.
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