“[AG Rokita] stated he talked to Sheriff Redman multiple times, which is false,” the St. Joseph County’s Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “The Sheriff has never even spoken to Todd Rokita. He stated that we do not cooperate with ICE, which is false. We regularly communicate with ICE. When the jail receives a detainer or request from ICE, staff promptly informs immigration officials when that individual will be released on their criminal charges for detainment by ICE.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed a lawsuit against the St. Joseph County’s Sheriff’s Department.
According to FOX News, the complaint was filed after Rokita’s office received information that St. Joseph County Sheriff William Redman refused to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
“I filed a lawsuit against St. Joseph County Sheriff Redman and his department over their persistent practice of refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities,” Rokita said in a press conference.
“This includes refusing to notify [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] properly about the release of illegal aliens and also refusing to honor ICE detainers,” Rokita said. “This deliberate decision to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities is giving safe harbor to criminal aliens that need to be removed from our country and this county.”
Rokita said that the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department’s alleged refusal to detain undocumented migrants could accelerate inbound immigration and increase crime rates.
“I refuse, as your attorney general, to just stand by and watch the lawlessness happen from law enforcement officials,” he said.
Rokita emphasized that, despite filing a lawsuit, his office will continue to support local law enforcement.
“But we will also hold those who deserve to be held accountable, accountable,” he said.
“My office will not stop in our work on this issue until the law is followed and we put our people first over illegal aliens,” Rokita said.
Other officials in Rokita’s office claimed that the attorney general had repeatedly tried establishing contact with the St. Joseph County’s Sheriff Department, yet were unable to obtain any assurance of cooperation.
“We’ve engaged in back-and-forth correspondence which, if he wasn’t already on notice, would have put the county sheriff on notice of what the expectations of state law requirements are, and through subsequent communications with ICE, we confirm that detainer requests are still not being complied with,” said Blake Lanning, the Assistant Chief Deputy to the Office of the Attorney General.
The Sheriff’s Department, for its part, denies ever having received substantive correspondence from Rokita or his office.
“The Indian Attorney General once again decided to hold a press conference before even making us aware of the lawsuit,” the department said in a statement. “At the time of this posting, we have yet to even receive a copy of the lawsuit.”
“[Rokita] stated he talked to Sheriff Redman multiple times, which is false,” it said. “The Sheriff has never even spoken to Todd Rokita. He stated that we do not cooperate with ICE, which is false. We regularly communicate with ICE. When the jail receives a detainer or request from ICE, staff promptly informs immigration officials when that individual will be released on their criminal charges for detainment by ICE.”
“We also remind the Attorney General that neither state or federal law require the Sheriff or the Jail to enforce federal immigration laws,” the sheriff’s department said. “Sheriff and the department fully comply with all state and federal laws, and will now unfortunately have to defend itself in court against the State of Indiana.”
Sources
Indiana attorney general files lawsuit against sheriff for defying feds on illegal immigration
St. Joseph County Police Department, officials respond to Indiana AG immigration lawsuit
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