In recent weeks, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have become an increasingly visible presence in Indianapolis and across the state, carrying out arrests in full face coverings and military-style gear while Hoosier families, neighbors, and communities are left to fear who will be taken next, all with little to no answers. Their presence is defined by secrecy — unmarked vehicles with no visible license plates.
According to the Deportation Data Project, 750 people were detained by ICE in July in Indiana. This number has increased monthly from 456 in January.
Deportation Data Project, September 2026
The actions of ICE — bolstered by 287(g) agreements (contracts with local law enforcement to support immigration enforcement) — have wrought immeasurable fear and harm across immigrant communities, tearing families apart, driving people into the shadows, and making everyday life feel dangerous for people simply trying to live, work, and care for their families.
These practices have raised profound concerns not only about the growing risk of abuse by unchecked, masked ICE agents threatening constitutional rights and due process, but also about local law enforcement overstepping their roles and misusing local resources to do ICE’s bidding.
Officials Respond
Public officials, including Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett and Congressman André Carson, have already expressed their concern over the presence of these agents of chaos and cruelty.
Hogsett said his office was not given notice ahead of the increased ICE activity. Federal authorities have not offered them any information.
But this is much more than just a lack of transparency.
He says kids are scared to go to school, and some older residents have even avoided medical appointments or grocery trips. The presence of ICE creates an environment of fear and tension.
—My responsibility is to protect the safety and stability of this city, and we will continue pressing for federal practices that respect due process, community trust, and the dignity of all who call Indianapolis home.
Joe Hogsett, Mayor of Indianapolis
Carson, who represents much of Indianapolis in the U.S. House, recently made a congressional inquiry into ICE’s recent increased presence in the city. He’s asking for the number of people detained, apprehended, or arrested in Indianapolis this year.
—Masked agents conducting arrests from unmarked vehicles, without appropriate public information about their identity, authority, or mission, creates fear and confusion.
Congressman André Carson
He goes on to say, " It makes it more difficult for residents to distinguish legitimate officers from those impersonating law enforcement. It erodes public trust in law enforcement – which is essential for local authorities to question witnesses and make arrests in cases that actually pose a danger to the general public."
Where Detainees Are Being Sent
According to The Indiana Organizing Project, we don't have any hard numbers yet on how many people have been detained since August.
However, we do have an idea as to where they're going.
We know that many of those detained are being processed at the Fulton County Jail, as opposed to the ICE office in Indianapolis. We also know people from central Indiana are being sent to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, within 24 hours of their arrest.
Being violently arrested, processed, and detained is traumatic in its own right, but conditions at this facility are particularly concerning.
According to the statewide coalition No Detention Centers in Michigan, this facility has a history of alleged medical neglect, dangerous conditions, and unconstitutional captivity. Earlier this year, many of the imprisoned immigrants there engaged in a hunger strike.
—We demand competent doctors, better medical care—the food here is absolute garbage—and, above all, an end to the procedural delays we are suffering through inside these walls.
An individual who was detained at North Lake
They go on to say in a press release from the coalition, “We are being held prisoner arbitrarily. The majority of us meet all the requirements to be released, yet judges capriciously deny us bond and the basic rights to which we are entitled. We need to get out of here and to be treated like human beings.”
These are not conditions befitting anyone, and they are especially heinous when you consider that the vast majority of detained immigrants have never been convicted of a crime.
If this sounds familiar, it may be because Indiana also has a facility plagued with abuse and neglect.
Miami Correctional Facility, the largest ICE detention facility in Indiana
At Miami Correctional Facility, the Midwest hub for immigration detention, the reality has been horrifying and deadly. Inadequate medical staffing has led to missed medications and health emergencies, lawsuits have documented gross mistreatment by staff, and two people have died at the facility this year. Not to mention the facility’s recent 31 inmate settlements totaling over $1.2 million over horrifying conditions.
Communities across Indiana are making clear that this is not acceptable. Hoosiers recently held dozens of events statewide calling for an end to ICE detention at Miami Correctional Facility and for Indiana not to renew the facility’s ICE contract next year.
Federal Funds Needed, But Not for Immigration Enforcement
It’s notable that the Indiana State Police (ISP) is set to receive nearly $30 million to expand surveillance-driven immigration enforcement efforts, even as residents are still recovering from the aftermath of destructive storms and heavy flooding.
Indiana does need an influx of federal dollars. However, it needs that money to help its residents afford their groceries, pay their rent or build back their lives after a natural disaster ravaged the state. The last thing they need is more resources directed at surveilling and arresting their neighbors.
Weeks after the storms, some Hoosiers are still waiting for FEMA assistance to arrive or are encountering laughably low assistance offers.
The state should spend more time ensuring residents' SNAP replacements aren't denied after weeks without power and less time working with an agency whose tactics are widely opposed by American citizens.
More on ISP’s Federal Funding
Indiana does not need expanded cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement, but it seems like that’s exactly what’s about to happen, and with little to no oversight.
Documents submitted by ISP show the agency seeking $29,069,985 in federal funding with no state or local match for a program expected to last three to five years and operating across all 92 Indiana counties. The proposal explicitly calls for expanding participation in the federal 287(g) program, immigration-related arrests, intelligence gathering, interdiction, surveillance, and cooperation with ICE and other federal agencies.
Despite the massive size and scope of the proposal, the funding was not brought before the State Budget Committee for a vote. It was instead submitted as a report, allowing it to progress without committee oversight, which could have subjected it to review and public scrutiny.
Indiana has spent the past year becoming one of the federal government’s most willing partners in expanding immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation. The State passed SEA 76, the so-called "FAIRNESS Act," one of the most aggressive state immigration laws in the country, forcing jails and local governments into closer cooperation with ICE and giving the attorney general new power to punish those who do not comply. Nearly 40 state and local agencies have also signed agreements to carry out ICE’s work, while more than 100 ICE flights have departed Indianapolis in 2026.
While SEA 76 requires local law enforcement and jails to comply with ICE detainers, it does not mandate that state officers become federal agents. Yet, ISP notes it already has 185 troopers fully trained and certified by ICE. If the scope of the state law is limited, why is ISP dedicating state resources to proactively certify troopers to do ICE’s bidding?
Handing ISP more than $29 million to expand immigration enforcement through surveillance, discriminatory policing, arrests, and detention is unacceptable. There are no meaningful safeguards. There was no public vote. This expansion will put more people at risk of being profiled, detained, and separated from their families all while further eroding trust between communities and law enforcement.
—This influx of funding without any checks or safeguards poses a massive risk to all of our civil liberties.
Danielle Drake, Advocacy Manager at the ACLU of Indiana
“When state police are folded into federal immigration enforcement, it opens the door to racial profiling, illegal and unwarranted stops and detention, and makes people less likely to turn to law enforcement when they need help. That kind of policing undermines both constitutional rights and public trust.”
The Human Cost Is Real; We Must Fight Back
Communities are in fear. A recent IndyStar report detailed a Lawrence ICE operation. Masked agents stood outside armed with rifles as detainees were brought out in handcuffs while a crowd gathered shouting questions, trying to obtain their names before they were taken away in the unmarked vehicle. That confusion has only increased, as families are left searching for information on their loved ones, where they’ve been sent, and what to do next.
This is the system that Indiana is choosing to expand. But Hoosiers are showing up at rallies statewide, organizing weekly against detention, and demanding an end to the inhumane and abusive immigration enforcement scheme. We will keep fighting, showing up, and defending everyone’s rights and liberties.
Learn More and Take Action
- Send A Message to Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner: End ICE Detention at Miami Correctional
- Report Corruption, Abuse, and Misconduct to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General
- Know Your Rights: Immigration Enforcement
- ACLU | Immigrants' Rights
- ACLU | Resources for People Seeking Asylum
- National Immigrant Justice Center
- Immigration Advocates Network - National Immigration Legal Services Directory (IN)
- Indiana Legal Services - The Immigrants' and Language Rights Center
- Immigrant Welcome Center
- Exodus Refugee
