Indiana Attorney General Sues Merrillville Over ICE Facility Opposition

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit against the Merrillville Town Council, alleging the municipality illegally interfered with federal efforts to establish a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility. The legal action is the first enforcement of Indiana's FAIRNESS Act, which prohibits local sanctuary policies and mandates cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Rokita seeks civil penalties of $10,000 per violation.

The conflict follows a January resolution passed by the council opposing the conversion of industrial warehouses on Mississippi Street into detention centers. Rokita claims town officials used this resolution and private communications to pressure property owners, specifically Opus Development Company and Tradeline Properties LLC, into refusing to sell to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He asserts this campaign of intimidation caused at least two real estate transactions to fail.

Merrillville officials maintain that their resolution was a protected expression of opinion under the First Amendment and did not physically block ICE from purchasing property. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has suggested the lawsuit may violate freedom of speech rights. While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated it has no new detention centers to announce in Merrillville, the Town Council has refused demands to rescind its resolution.