ACLU and Exodus Refugee Immigration claim records request from the State violates First Amendment rights

The ACLU of Indiana and Exodus Refugee Immigration are pushing back against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s investigation into Exodus. The federal lawsuit filed Friday argues Rokita is violating Exodus’s first amendment rights.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of Exodus, an Indiana nonprofit that helps resettle refugees.

It comes in response to a move earlier this month when Rokita issued a civil investigative demand (CID) to Exodus claiming that the nonprofit was potentially involved in labor trafficking — one of the two primary forms of human trafficking according to the U.S. Department of State.

Rokita’s press release about the demand also implied the organization’s Bloomington location had possibly interfered with federal immigration enforcement.

Exodus CEO Cole Varga said Rokita has not provided evidence of wrongdoing.

“Instead, the demand would allow Rokita to obtain personal information about Exodus clients like social security numbers or employers we work with, or home addresses of folks,” Varga said.

He said the information being requested would include about three years of documents, phone records and oral conversations.

Exodus is the latest organization that works with immigrants to receive a civil investigative demand. Since last fall, Rokita has tried to access information from several businesses, organizations and local governments from around the state.

In response to Exodus’s lawsuit, a spokesperson for Rokita’s office said in a statement Sunday that Exodus had not contacted the attorney general’s office about the CID prior to filing the lawsuit.

“It’s unfortunate for Hoosiers that Exodus is attempting to thwart our investigative work instead of cooperating,” the statement read.

They emphasized that the CID is “not an accusation of wrongdoing” and that part of the investigation comes from information received earlier this year of “complications and interference” that federal immigration authorities experienced while in Bloomington during an ICE operation.

The office spokesperson said the office will continue to “vigorously” pursue the investigation.

The tactic of using consumer protection laws to investigate groups with opposing political views has been used in other states including Texas. There, Attorney General Ken Paxton has sent CIDs to pursue client information from organizations that serve immigrants such as Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and Annunciation House in El Paso. Both have gone to court to block the investigations.

The argument that Exodus is making in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana is that the Indiana attorney general’s request is a violation of the organization’s First Amendment rights.

In the case filing, Exodus states that between press releases Rokita has published and the CID it received, “make it clear that Exodus is being targeted not because it has behaved unlawfully but because of its association with immigrants and refugees.”
 

The 44-year-old organization was founded in Indiana to create a support network for refugees and asylees coming to the U.S. through federal programs. Varga said most of the clients Exodus serves have already been vetted by the federal government before they were approved to come into the country.

“So it’s, it’s a waste of our time,” he said. “It’s a waste of taxpayer resources, and it’s an unfounded demand cast at Exodus and the good work we do every day.”

The actions taken by Rokita are just one of the changes in immigration policies and enforcement since President Donald Trump took office. The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement with issuing detainment quotas on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, establishing new  detainment facilities and getting state and local law enforcement to assist in operations.

In Indiana, Governor Mike Braun has signaled his support of Trump’s policies. Braun has committed state law enforcement resources to assist ICE and the State Budget Committee recently approved $15.79 million to renovate the Miami Correctional Facility to hold male detainees. The most recent report from ICE shows 14 agreements between local and state law enforcement agencies in Indiana through the 287(g) program — that allows a law enforcement agency to act as immigration enforcement agents.

Varga said immigrants in the U.S. are facing quite the gauntlet these days.

“Whether that’s ICE or whether that’s the hundreds of changes to immigration policy that have been enacted since Trump took office,” he said. “This is another attempt by politicians to attack a group that is just trying to live their lives peacefully in safety in the Hoosier State.”

Contact WFYI All Things Considered newscaster and reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org or on Signal at SamHorton.05