Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita Threatens to Sue East Chicago Gary Over ‘Welcome to the City’ Ordinances – NBC Chicago

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Friday threatened legal action against the cities of Gary and East Chicago, as well as two other local governments, over their “sanctuary city” policies.

In a news release, Rokita said he sent letters to officials in East Chicago, Gary, West Lafayette and Monroe County urging them to withdraw “local policies that enable illegal immigration.” If local governments do not follow these recommendations, they will “suffer quick legal consequences” from July 1, Rokita warned.

“The flood of illegal immigrants entering the United States is a problem that harms us all,” the state attorney general said in part in the release. “The price for this lawlessness is paid by Hoosier taxpayers who must foot the increased costs of health care, education and other services that illegal immigrants rely on.”

Rokita said a “sanctuary city” is a “local governmental entity that has adopted a policy of willfully and willfully disregarding federal law and failing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.”

According to Indiana Senate Republicans, Indiana lawmakers earlier this year passed Senate Bill 181, which sought to amend existing state law to authorize the attorney general to bring a lawsuit against any college, university or local government entity that fails to enforce state laws banning sanctuary cities.

In 2011, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation prohibiting governmental entities from limiting or limiting the actions of other agencies that inquire about a person’s citizenship or immigration status.

The Indiana Court of Appeals in August 2022 dismissed a lawsuit challenging the validity of East Chicago’s “Welcoming City” ordinance, finding that the plaintiffs – who do not live in the city – “did not have standing to challenge the ordinance,” according to a previous Times report of Northwest Indiana.”

A month earlier, the Indiana Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit that argued that Gary’s policy of prioritizing local public safety needs and protecting immigrant rights unlawfully violated Indiana’s 2011 ban on sanctuary cities, the newspaper reported.

In 2017, many cities across the United States passed “welcome city” ordinances in opposition to then-President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Such regulations direct government officials not to share information about an individual’s immigration status with federal immigration authorities.