Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, flanked by Indiana State Police personnel, holds a news conference in his Statehouse office on Wednesday, July 16. Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — A trio of Indiana agencies have signed up for federal immigration enforcement powers, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced Friday, Aug. 1.

“Indiana is not a safe haven for illegal immigration,” Braun said in a news release. “Indiana will fully partner with federal immigration authorities as they enforce the most fundamental laws of our country.”

If U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement approves the agreements, the Indiana State Police, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Correction would join four local Hoosier agencies — and nearly 900 others from across the nation — that have inked similar deals.

The formal partnerships are authorized in Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and let ICE delegate certain immigration enforcement powers to state or local officers.

There are three active program models: task force, warrant service officer and jail enforcement.

The Indiana State Police has submitted a memorandum of agreement for the task force model, according to an ICE list of pending deals that was updated Friday morning. So did the Department of Homeland Security.

The Department of Correction asked for a warrant service officer deal. The agency is “working with ICE to make available up to 1,000 beds at Miami Correctional Facility,” the news release said.

The announcement follows an executive order Braun issued in January directing Hoosier law enforcement agencies to “fully cooperate with ICE, and, to the maximum extent permitted, enter into (287(g)) agreements.”

If ICE approves the deals, the agencies will be moved to a separate list of enacted deals. But that doesn’t mean they’re active.

The agencies will nominate specific personnel to take on federal powers. However, the officer nominees must undergo ICE training and pass examinations to be deputized.

Nominees from at least two of the four local Indiana agencies that have finalized 287(g) agreements with ICE still have not been trained — and therefore, haven’t been tapped in the national deportation effort, the Capital Chronicle found.

Braun is “also anticipating further partnership” between the Indiana National Guard and federal immigration authorities, it continued. That will not be a 287(g) agreement, according to the Braun administration.

Camp Atterbury — a federally owned military installation that is licensed to and operated by the guard — will be used to hold immigrant detainees.

It will be “available for temporary use by the (U.S.) Department of Homeland Security to house illegal aliens subject to deportation, with safety in mind for staff, detainees, and surrounding communities,” the news release said.

The plan was revealed last month in a letter from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to congressional members.