Indiana Senate approves immigration enforcement bill INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Jail personnel and sheriffs would be responsible for alerting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if someone was potentially in the country illegally under a bill the Indiana Senate approved Monday afternoon. Un der the latest version of House Bill 1393, jail personnel would have to notify the sheriff if they believed someone arrested on felony or misdemeanor charges might be in the country unlawfully. At that point, the sheriff would have to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known also as ICE. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 37-10, with Republican Sens. Ron Alting and Blake Doriot joining all Democrats in voting against it. The bill originally would have required arresting officers to notify the sheriff. Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, who carried the bill in the Senate, told News 8 that he changed that provision to apply to jail personnel instead. He said this change would relieve pressure on patrol officers and address concerns immigrant rights advocates have raised about eroding trust in law enforcement. Freeman said the change leaves the bill’s core goal intact. “We’re not going to have law enforcement out there patrolling, alerting somebody, pulling somebody over because, well I think this person’s not here legally, it’s going to have to be, they were arrested for a misdemeanor or a felony,” he said. “You’re being arrested for a crime that’s going to potentially put you in jail. Then, and only then, does this bill apply.” The bill is part of a wave of legislation, in Indiana and elsewhere, aimed at driving state-level immigration crackdowns to complement those of the Trump administration. Besides HB 1393, HB 1531 would authorize the attorney general to defend any law enforcement officer sued over an immigration enforcement action. Two other bills that never received hearings would have created a state-level offense for being in the country illegally and criminalized a police officer’s refusal to take part in an immigration enforcement action. Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, himself a naturalized citizen, said bills like HB 1393 are being filed because they’re politically beneficial but they’re not good public policy. He said he fears the national immigration debate will politicize local law enforcement. “We heard loud and clear, at least from my district, that there is a fear that now a victim of a crime might not even call IMPD (Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department) because they are afraid that their family member, or even themselves, will go down the path of being questioned about their immigration status,” he said. “And they could be here legally, but without the proper understanding of their legal status, it could create all kinds of issues including arrest prior to conviction, which could impact their lives, livelihood, their kids going to school.” Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, a former IMPD officer, said the bill’s probable cause standard means jail personnel will have to base any suspicions of a person’s immigration status on something specific, such as a lack of identifying information or having counterfeit documents. The bill has to return to the House because of the changes that the Senate made. Freeman said he expects the House will accept the changes, eliminating the need for a conference committee to work out the differences before the bill goes to Gov. Mike Braun’s desk. ...read more read less