Indiana House rejects several SB 76 amendments as lawmakers debate immigration enforcement bill

Staff report

INDIANAPOLIS — February 10, 2026

Indiana House Democrats said Tuesday that Republicans rejected multiple proposed changes to Senate Bill 76, a wide-ranging immigration enforcement measure that would require state and local agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said he offered a series of amendments on Feb. 10 to exempt hospital police, university police and school resource officers from coordinating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions for people suspected of being in the country illegally. All of the exemptions were defeated, according to DeLaney’s office.

“School resource officers should not be expected to grab children out of classrooms. Campus police officers should not be forced to snatch students on their way to a lecture. Officers protecting hospitals should not be tasked with detaining people seeking health care,” DeLaney said in a statement, calling the bill “an outrageous overreach of government.”

DeLaney also proposed an amendment requiring violent offenders to serve their sentence in Indiana before deportation. That amendment was also defeated.

“It is against Hoosier values to allow violent criminals to walk free in their country of origin,” DeLaney said.

Separately, Rep. Mitch Gore, D-Indianapolis — a sheriff’s deputy — said his amendment failed 34-61. Gore said he sought to protect local law enforcement agencies from liability if SB 76 results in people being held longer than legally allowed because they cannot immediately produce specific documents, such as a passport or U.S. birth certificate.

“Many people are here in this country legally but are not citizens — green card holders, visa holders, refugees, asylees,” Gore said in a statement. “Under the current bill language, those individuals could be held longer than legally justified simply because they don’t have a passport or birth certificate in their pocket when they’re arrested.”

Gore said his proposal would have replaced what he described as a “citizenship test” with a “lawful-status standard,” and broadened the list of acceptable documents to avoid detaining people solely for missing paperwork.

SB 76, as amended in committee earlier this month, would require state and local law enforcement, government entities and public postsecondary schools to comply with federal immigration law — including honoring ICE detainer requests — or potentially face civil penalties, including fines of up to $10,000.

The bill’s framework includes detainer requests that can require sheriffs to hold someone up to 48 hours past their scheduled release so ICE can assume custody, and it also includes immunity provisions for actions taken in accordance with the legislation, WFYI reported.

One Democratic proposal was adopted: Rep. Carolyn B. Jackson, D-Indianapolis, said the House approved her Amendment 19 to allow U.S. citizens wrongfully detained by ICE to challenge their detainment. Jackson said she introduced the measure after wrongful detentions reported elsewhere in the country.

“I’m very proud that Amendment 19 was adopted to give U.S. citizens recourse if they are wrongfully detained by ICE,” Jackson said in a statement.

However, Jackson said another amendment — which would have allowed people to seek up to $10,000 in damages for wrongful detainment — was rejected 31-63.

“Being wrongfully detained or misidentified can come with significant financial loss if someone is forced to miss work,” Jackson said, adding that the bill “is a dangerous piece of legislation.”

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