Indiana Senate passes immigration notice bill

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana State Senate passed an immigration notice bill that would modify how law enforcement handles arrested individuals suspected of residing in the country illegally.  

If House Bill 1393 is signed into law, jails and detention facilities would need to alert county sheriffs if an arresting officer has probable cause to believe a suspect is in the country unlawfully.  The county sheriff would then be required to relay that information to federal immigration officials such as ICE.

“When you come here illegally, you’re breaking our laws, and we’re either going to be a nation of laws, or we’re not,” Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said. “It’s not to say that we’re not welcoming in Indiana, we are, but we can’t help you if we don’t know you’re here, so, in order for us to help here, you’ve got to be here legally; you’ve got to go through the right process.”

Proponents of the bill argued it is only meant to target those who have been arrested for a separate misdemeanor or felony.

“I amended the bill because I do not want to put law enforcement in a position of even being able to pull somebody over in order to detain somebody just because someone may not be here legally,” State Sen. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis), the bill’s sponsor, said.

Immigration advocates said the bill could have implications beyond those arrests.

“It still opens up our law enforcement officials to liability for making mistakes,” Carolina Castonero with the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus said. “Probable cause is not enough to convict someone, so why is it enough to condemn someone to that type of fate?”

“I, from my own personal experience, have a lot of questions about whether or not this is going to be fruitful at all,” State Sen. Rodney Pol (D-Chesteron) said.

Many Democrats argued the bill is tantamount to skipping due process for certain individuals.

“There’s a difference between arrest and conviction,” State Sen. Fady Qaddoura (D-Indianapolis) said. “I would have been a bit more comfortable at the point of conviction.”

“They haven’t committed a crime; respectfully, Senator [Freeman], please quit saying that,” State Sen. Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis) said. “They’ve been arrested; they have not been convicted of committing a crime.”

The bill now heads back to the House with amendments.