HAMILTON COUNTY— As immigration enforcement intensifies in Indiana, residents and law enforcement officials are grappling with the implications of a government program.
Hamilton County was the first in the state to implement the 287(g) program in January. The program allows local law enforcement to cooperate directly with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Since its inception, the sheriff’s department has turned over 74 individuals to ICE, nearly matching the total of 77 for all of 2024.
Critics, including resident Evelyn Davis, say the initiative is instilling fear in immigrant communities.
“They are afraid to go out because they are afraid of ICE picking them up off the street,” Davis said.
Davis, who recently protested immigration policies in the state, expressed concern about the program’s long-term effects on the community.
“I went to the grocery store today, the YMCA and also the hospital. And most of those people that I interacted with were of immigrant descent, so I know immigrants are very important for us as a community,” she said. “I feel that trying to pull them out of our society is not correct, not right.”
Hamilton County officials defend their participation in the federal program, saying it targets individuals who are arrested for criminal activity, not those merely living in the U.S. without documentation.
“We're seeing more guns in the hands of prohibited people,” said John Lowes with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office back in January.
“We're seeing more drugs that are coming, and we know they're coming across the border.”
However, not all law enforcement leaders are comfortable with the approach.
“The process of holding an individual on just a simple immigration detainer... has been an area where I don't think all sheriffs have always been comfortable,” said Stephen Luce, executive director of the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association.
"When you do take that role on, you actually become an arm of the federal government, and that's not who we work for.”
Luce emphasized that Indiana sheriffs are not targeting homes, schools or places of worship for immigration enforcement.
“No, I can tell you our 92 sheriffs, we're not doing it,” he said.
Davis said she hopes the policies will not divide families or communities.
“We just want to be happy,” she said. “We don’t want family separation.”
WRTV has contacted ICE multiple times for comment on the number of undocumented individuals in Indiana and the agency’s coordination with local law enforcement. ICE has not responded.
