Braun clarifies expectations of ICE arrests

INDIANAPOLIS — Two days after Avon Police cooperated with federal agents in making 20 apprehensions of alleged illegal immigrants, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun made clear his expectations of Indiana police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers when it comes to nabbing foreign nationals on Hoosier soil.

”I’m for helping remove criminals after they came in here illegally. Some of the egregious ones we all agree with,” Braun told reporters on Thursday. ”We’re gonna do what I said we’ll do from the get go, the worst first and going after ones that broke the law once they came into the country illegally, and that’s to the extent that I’m willing to help.”

Braun also said he expects detained immigrants to be treated humanely when they are held at Camp Atterbury beginning next month.

Avon Police told FOX59/CBS4 that while conducting traffic enforcement and encountering suspected illegal immigrants, officers called for ICE assistance.

“During a few of these traffic stops, our police officers encountered undocumented and/or unlicensed foreign nationals,” reads a statement by Avon Police Chief Sean Stoops. “Avon Police officers requested assistance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Agents responded to the traffic stop location and assisted with identifying the foreign nationals and conducted their own investigation into the status of those individuals. Any decision to detain those individuals was solely the discretion and responsibility of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and/or other federal law enforcement agencies.  I cannot comment on any Immigration and Customs Enforcement ongoing investigations and/or individuals that they may have been detained.”

A source told FOX59/CBS4 that ICE requested to ride along with Avon PD during its enforcement blitz.

One attorney said her client, whom she refused to name, was apprehended in a west side Indianapolis parking lot walking to his car outside of a fitness club. The attorney said her client has both a green card and a work permit, as well as a clean criminal record.

That client is now being held in a county jail outside of the metro area.

Lisa Koops of the National Immigration Justice Center said to maintain credibility and trust in their communities, local police should know who federal agents are detaining and why.

“I think it’s really important for police agencies like the Avon Police Department and other communities to understand the extreme damage they do to community relations when they participate in immigration and enforcement,” she said. “One of the most precious things that any law enforcement agency has is community trust and when they violate that trust by participating in those sorts of activities, it makes it awfully hard for communities to call the police when they are in trouble or to report crime or act as a witness.”