Legislative Update + Call to Action
Upcoming Press Conference at State House, Hateful Legislation and More
How do you stay engaged, when the attacks are coming from every direction? You stay focused and purposeful with your energy! ✨
These past few weeks have been a lot – and in this, we want to acknowledge that this injection of chaos into our lives is by design: The information overload, the confusion and fear are all part of a strategy to overwhelm and paralyze us so we disengage. But with your continued encouragement and support, we’ll keep pushing back.
Keep reading for:
📋🖋Updates on Indiana Anti-Immigration Legislation,
Indiana Democratic Congressman, Frank Mrvan and his Vote Supporting National Anti-Immigration Legislation, and
🗣️INLDC’s Virtual Legislative Update, our upcoming Press Conference at the State House and Other Calls to Action!
Seriously – THANK YOU for combating this by staying engaged, informed and prepared to defend our communities.
Anti-Immigration House Bill, HB 1393, Passes 1st and 2nd Hearings – Advances to 3rd Hearing
As a refresher, HB 1393 would require law enforcement agents to notify the county sheriff if they arrest someone for a misdemeanor or felony and the agent has probable cause to believe that the person is not legally in the U.S.
On Thursday, January 23, 2025, HB 1393 passed out of committee with a 9-2 vote. The bill went to a second reading on Monday, February 3, 2025. Despite attempts to modify the language, the bill unfortunately passed out of the second hearing.
Contact Your Representative and tell them to vote NO during the bill’s 3rd reading!
Use this map to identify your House representative and reach out via phone or email. Share your personal story and explain why this bill affects you. [Sample script available here].
Update on Anti-Immigration House Bill, HB 1158
As a refresher, this bill would require Indiana sheriffs to enter agreements with ICE under the 287(g) program, turning local law enforcement into federal immigration agents. Because the committee didn’t feel confident they’d have enough votes to pass the bill during the first hearing on Tuesday, January 23, 2025, the committee decided to hold the vote. This is promising, but we still won’t know more until the coming weeks.
You can read INLDC’s first update here and you can track the bill here.
Update on Anti-Immigration Senate Bill, SB 430
Senate Bill 430 is HB 1158’s companion bill. This bill would provide grants for participation in the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's 287(g) program for training on immigration enforcement. The bill is being promoted as “pro law enforcement” because “all it does is provide funding for these agencies.”
Unfortunately, the bill passed out of committee during the 3rd and final hearing, on Monday, February 3, 2025. These are the State Senators who voted for the passage of the bill:
Thank you to those State Senators who voted against it:
Indiana’s Frank Mrvan Supports Laken Riley Act
Democratic Congressman Frank J. Mrvan, representing Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, was one of the House members who voted in favor of the Laken Riley Act. The act passed in the Senate and was signed into law by Trump on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
The act requires the detention and deportation of non-citizens accused of certain crimes like theft and shoplifting. The act removes previously available procedural safeguards for those in the country without lawful status, who have also been accused of crimes: before, someone accused of a crime would have had to have been charged with a crime before entering the immigration system. They would have had an opportunity to go before a judge and “have their day in court.”
The act does away with that – so now someone accused of a listed crime, like theft, would be sent directly to the Department of Homeland Security to start removal proceedings, removing the “innocence until proven guilty” principle.
In a district representing around 135,000 people of Hispanic or Latino Descent, our question is: why would Congressman Mrvan vote for such a misguided and surely devastating measure?
You can contact Mrvan’s office and ask why he supported this bill, using the form found here.
✏️ SAVE THE DATE — The People’s Assembly Press Conference
On Thursday, March 13th from 10AM - 12PM, INLDC alongside community partners and allies will be hosting a Press Conference titled: The People’s Assembly at the Indiana State House. The Press Conference will be held on the 4th Floor Atrium, on the South Side of the building. The State House is located at 200 W Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
More information to come! 👏🏼
Unity is Our Greatest Strength
To everyone reaching out with questions and guidance, thank you for your patience and grace as we work to respond. To our legislative allies, our community partners and everyone sharing their energy, encouragement, and personal resources – thank you for you for walking alongside us. Resisting together is how we’ll get through this.
A special thank you to State Representative Victoria Garcia Wilburn, State Senator Rodney Pol Jr., State Senator J.D. Ford, State Representative Blake Johnson and State Representative Mitch Gore for equipping us with timely, constant and accurate information these past couple of weeks. And to State Senator Mark Spencer, WELCOME! We are glad to have you as an ally.
I appreciate the updates.