Crime & Law
Advocates Raise Concerns About New ICE Detention Center in Indiana
A new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention center is in the works in Indiana, dubbed the “Speedway Slammer.”
Similar in size to Florida’s so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” facility, the Indiana center will triple the amount of beds ICE has in the Chicago region.
The announcement comes on the heels of orders from President Donald Trump’s administration to ramp up immigration efforts in Democratic-led cities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has set a national quota of 3,000 arrests per day.
The Miami Correctional Facility in Miami County, Indiana, is allowing the federal government to detain immigrants. It’s located about 130 miles southeast of Chicago’s border with Indiana and 70 miles north of Indianapolis.
“I have been in contact with our law enforcement officers and sheriffs’ offices throughout the session, and I have been vocal about our ability to carry out the required duties, given that we are facing severe law enforcement shortages in our state,” Indiana state Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn said. “Our governor has been asking us to do more with less, but somehow we are fitting the bill for this federal endeavor.”
Garcia Wilburn, a Democrat whose district represents parts of Indianapolis, said that while her area is not the location of the new center, her county does take part in an existing federal program that incentivizes sheriffs to collaborate directly with the federal government when immigration is a concern.
In Illinois, state and local law enforcement are generally prohibited from assisting ICE with civil immigration enforcement.
“Secretary Noem mentioned last week that some of the laws that have passed in Illinois have made it difficult for them to conduct some of their operations, and their moves in Indiana could be read as a way to up enforcement operations in the Midwest,” said Brandon Lee, communications director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, or ICIRR. “As a coalition of community-based organizations, we are making sure that our community members still know their rights, that all of our neighbors are on the lookout for ICE enforcement, and that immigrants and all families in Illinois know the resources available to them.”
Lee and other members of ICIRR raised concerns about the treatment of detainees. Reports have been released on inhumane conditions at detention centers in Florida. Advocates say some detainees have gone days without water or food. Overcrowded detention centers are becoming more and more common as the Trump administration continues to up mass deportations. The federal government is holding more than 48,000 people in immigration detention, about a 20% increase since January.
What was meant to be a plan targeting “violent criminals” has reached behind that scope. There have been numerous reports of undocumented citizens with no violent past, as well as permanent residents and students on visas arrested by ICE agents.
“My trepidation with all of this is that those on pathways, whether it be asylum seeking, refugee, etc., those that are on this pathway in full compliance, are being caught up as well as American citizens, and what seems to start to gain more confidence with racial profiling among Latino communities,” Garcia Wilburn said. “I worry that Indiana is going to make national news for what we know has made national news in states like Florida, inhumane treatment, wrong apprehension of citizens, and it’s a distraction to the problems that really exist here.”
In July, a coalition of immigrant rights organizations filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing it of unlawfully arresting people at immigration courthouses with the intent to quickly deport them, violating their due process rights.
“This is a broad-based operation by the Trump administration that targets all immigrants,” Lee said. “This is not a new practice of ICE, but the degree to which the Trump administration is taking it pushes the limits and pushes beyond the limits that previous administrations have.”
Advocates said they will continue to work with lawmakers legislatively to ensure laws like the Illinois Trust Act remain intact.
