Indianapolis Public Schools to change immigration-related policies after Todd Rokita's ICE lawsuit

Indianapolis Public Schools plans on changing its policies to address a lawsuit from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita that claims the district impeded federal immigration enforcement.

In a court filing last month, the district said it was in the process of changing its policies at the heart of the lawsuit, which took aim at a 2017 resolution directing employees not to assist immigration enforcement efforts without the superintendent’s approval.

It’s unclear what policies the district plans to change. In response to questions from Chalkbeat, the district last week referred to a previous statement that reiterated its “non-negotiable” commitment to the safety of its students. But that 2017 resolution, which reaffirmed the district’s commitment to a safe environment for students regardless of immigration status, is no longer on the district’s website.

A link to that resolution was on an IPS web page that Rokita also targeted that provided support for undocumented students and families. That web page is no longer online. It assured families that the district does not ask students about their immigration status and adhered to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act that keeps student records private. ICE officers must generally provide a judicial warrant to enter school grounds, the website said.

Rokita sued the district in November, alleging that IPS policies hindered the deportation of a “Honduran national” who opted to voluntarily leave the country in January with his son, an IPS student. Those policies, he argued, violated state law that prohibits governmental entities from restricting immigration enforcement laws.

In a court hearing on Monday, Ken Falk of the ACLU of Indiana, which is representing IPS, said that the school board will vote on the policy changes around mid-January. Those changes could address Rokita’s concerns and render the lawsuit moot.

Marion County Judge John Chavis agreed to give the district until Feb. 2 to respond to the complaint. The district will also share the policy changes with the attorney general’s office by that date, after which the office could either decide that the changes satisfy state law or continue the lawsuit.

Last month, the district said in its filing that it does not concede that the policies are in violation of state law.

The changes come as schools deal with the fallout from ramped-up immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term. During Trump’s first term, IPS and districts nationwide moved to protect undocumented students on school grounds by adopting various resolutions committing to their safety.

The lawsuit claims that the student disregarded his father’s desire to leave the country and went to school on Jan. 8, the day of the father’s scheduled deportation flight. When Immigrations and Customs Enforcement contacted IPS to “help the father take custody of his son,” the district refused to release the child to ICE without a judicial warrant or court order.

“ICE responded that it simply was asking that the son be released to the father so that they could depart the country as the father had agreed to do and that such action did not require a court order,” Rokita said in the complaint.

The lawsuit also claimed that the district adopted an “officer response protocol” in early 2025 that directed staff not to share information on the immigration status of students, family members, or staff members with federal authorities.

In the lawsuit, Rokita argued that the district could still allow ICE on school grounds without a warrant.

The school board and community members have criticized Rokita’s lawsuit, calling it a political stunt. The school board has also launched an online petition about the issue.

“While political posturing may seek to divide, we remain united in our belief that education should never be weaponized or politicized,” says the petition, which has over 2,500 signatures.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.