Members of Indiana’s congressional delegation have signed a letter of support for a bill that would allow the state government to withhold state funds from any sanctuary town or city that interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
The state’s two U.S. Senators and five Republican congress people signed the letter in support of State House Bill 1531, which allows local law enforcement agencies to help enforce federal immigration law and gives the state’s attorney general the option to advise the governor to withhold money from local governments that interfere with immigration enforcement, according to the Indianapolis Star.
The bill passed the house and is now waiting for debate and a vote in the state Senate.
But like similar measures in other GOP-led states, the bill has stalled in Indiana. In a repeat of what has happened around the country, Indiana business groups moved quickly to block immigration reform by strong-arming state Republican officials. They have this leverage because many GOP politicians also run businesses that benefit from a continued inflow of migrants for cheap labor.
To counter this influence, Indiana’s congressional delegation is taking the unusual move of standing up for state reform, calling the bill a “commonsense measure.” The letter also says that if made into law, the bill will “go a long way toward addressing many of the immigration-related challenges our state faces.”
“States can and should play a key role in restoring integrity to our immigration system and protecting Americans from the social and economic costs of unrestrained migration,” the letter reads. “There is no reason why Indiana should not be a leader in that effort.”
The letter was signed by both Indiana Republican U.S. Senators, Jim Banks and Todd Young, along with GOP Representatives Rudy Yakym, Marlin Stutzman, Jim Baird, Mark Messmer, and Erin Houchin. Two other congressional Republicans, Victoria Spartz and Jefferson Shreve, chose not to cosign.
Indiana’s HB 1531 is one of many such bills awaiting passage in state legislatures across the country as states aim to codify cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration enforcement agencies. Such legislative steps would help prevent sanctuary jurisdictions from undermining federal law enforcement’s efforts to round up and deport criminal illegals.
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