Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is taking action in a dispute with the town of Merrillville, suing the town council after its January resolution opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing centers.
Rokita also talked about the crackdown of undocumented immigrants with commercial driver’s licenses and the enforcement of House Enrolled Act 1200, which requires people to pass an English skills test to receive their CDL.
The attorney general, at a Thursday press conference at a Gary CDL school, said the Merrillville lawsuit is his office’s first enforcement action under Indiana’s FAIRNESS Act. The legislation, which was signed into law June 2, “strengthens Indiana’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities, holds employers accountable for hiring illegal aliens, and ensures no community in Indiana operates as a sanctuary for illegal immigration,” according to the governor’s office.
Rokita called Merrillville’s resolution “illegal interference” with federal immigration enforcement.
“President (Donald) Trump promised in 2024 that he would carry out the largest deportation initiative in U.S. history of elected presidents,” Rokita said. “He is doing just that, and Indiana is a great state partner in upholding the rule of law.”
The town of Merrillville could not immediately comment on the lawsuit. The city of Gary also declined to comment on the press conference, with spokesman Steve Segura saying in an email to the Post-Tribune that Gary officials didn’t have the event on their schedule.
In December, public records obtained by the Washington Post identified Merrillville as a potential site for a new ICE detention facility. The next month, the town council unanimously passed a resolution against ICE detention or processing facilities in Merrillville.
Earlier this month, the council unanimously voted to table a resolution rescinding its January action. Resolutions are used to express policy or a governing body’s opinion on a subject and don’t carry the force of law, according to Post-Tribune archives.
Merrillville Town Attorney Joseph Svetanoff said the town would exhaust all options to oppose an ICE facility, Rokita said Thursday. The attorney general also claimed Thursday that the town’s and public’s concerns are not site-specific, including any environmental or zoning concerns.
Rokita, in a June 24 letter, told the town council that his office “has cause to believe that Merrillville has taken and continues to take actions to limit and restrict federal authorities’ ability to enforce federal immigration laws in violation of Indiana Code,” according to Post-Tribune archives. The town claimed in a previous statement that the resolution is a First Amendment issue, which Rokita denied Thursday.
“We are frankly surprised by the letter from the Indiana Attorney General as well as the timing of it. The Town Council passed Resolution No. 26-02 six months ago,” the council’s statement said. “We hope that the Indiana Attorney General agrees with us that this expression of the opinion of the Town Council of Merrillville, not having the force of law, but expressing its sense on a matter of great public import, is consistent with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, Article I, Sec. 9 of the Indiana Constitution and not at all violative of (Indiana Code).”
Public opposition to an ICE facility, Rokita said, has been made by a minority of activist citizens. Rokita also claimed that he hoped to reach a solution with Merrillville by now.
“I was hopeful for a positive resolution, for local elected officials who follow Indiana law,” Rokita said. “I was hoping that there might be a press conference with them, talking about putting Hoosiers first — U.S. citizens first — above housing, aiding and abetting illegal criminal aliens. But that’s not the case.”
Rokita also claimed that town residents will be “on the hook” for large legal bills following the lawsuit against the town, which he said Merrillville officials could’ve avoided.
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The attorney general and his staff presented multiple obtained emails regarding an ICE facility in the town, including one from Councilman Shawn Pettit, D-6, saying he’s requesting a written letter from Opus Holding, LLC that they’ve made no commitment to “no detention facility in town, particularly at 8719 Mississippi” Street. Another from town attorney Svetanoff also requested similar correspondence from Opus, according to documents provided by Rokita’s office.
At a town council meeting earlier this month, Pettit said he’d been in “constant contact with Opus Development — 8709 and 8719, which is 300 feet south of my house — has two leases on the table for private businesses to occupy that building, so that building’s off the table, ladies and gentlemen.
“The other questions I have, Mr. President, for our esteemed Attorney General, is number one, would you like it in Munster, Todd? Because it was 300 feet away from my house,” Pettit said, referring to the town in which Rokita grew up.
Opus Holding Vice President and General Council Shanna Strowbridge confirmed in a Feb. 4 email to Svetanoff that the company is “not under contract nor are we in active negotiations” about the sale or lease of its facility “with or involving any federal government agency,” according to documents provided by Rokita’s office.
His office also provided an email from Tradelane Properties CEO Neil Doyle to an undisclosed recipient, saying DHS would have to “get past” the town resolution to proceed with a sale of its Merrillville property.
“The town of Merrillville has a serious lawsuit on their hands,” Rokita said.
Rokita praised DriveCo, the Gary CDL school, for its work teaching those interested in receiving a license, saying they’re “doing it right.”
The attorney general announced Thursday that Indiana has revoked about 1,800 CDL licenses for those who do not speak English or cannot prove their legal citizenship status. He also said those people cannot learn how to drive and receive their CDL at an Indiana trucking school.
“That trucking school’s going to be like $50,000,” Rokita said. “If you’re a trucking company who knowingly and intentionally hires illegal (immigrants), hires someone who can’t speak English, you’re on the hook, too, for tens of thousands of dollars.”
Karen Orosz, campus president at Gary’s DriveCo CDL Learning Center, said the facility takes pride in training students to ensure they’ll be successful. The school has been in Gary since June 1990, Orosz said.
“We’re really excited that (the attorney general) made a visit here, so we could recognize what we do for our communities,” Orosz said, adding that the school’s staff ensure students are proficient in English and U.S. citizens. “We’ve been doing that all along. … It’s been a requirement for a very, very long time to be able to speak English, and we take pride in that.”
Freelance reporter Michelle L. Quinn contributed.