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Braun orders police to cooperate with immigration authorities — which they already must do

Mike Braun looks upward as he stands in his office. Braun is a White man, balding with gray hair. He is wearing glasses and a gray suit jacket over a white shirt
Brandon Smith
/
IPB News
It’s not clear if Gov. Mike Braun’s executive order on immigration does anything new on that issue, as Indiana law already requires law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities.

Gov. Mike Braun said he’s ordering all state and federal law enforcement agencies to do what the Trump administration asks to help deport undocumented immigrants.

It’s not clear if Braun’s executive order does anything new on that issue, as Indiana law already requires law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities.

Braun said the federal directive he’s received is focused on identifying undocumented immigrants who’ve committed crimes.

READ MORE: Immigration raids have begun. For immigrant and mixed-status families, everyday life has changed

Braun was asked if his executive order will involve law enforcement going into schools and churches. He said the Trump administration isn’t telling him to do that.

“Don’t extrapolate it into more than what we’ve seen here because it’s going to take a good while for this to take hold,” Braun said.

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text "Indiana" to 765-275-1120. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues.

Indiana law already bans local governments from refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Attorney General Todd Rokita has filed multiple lawsuits against local governments and law enforcement agencies in the last year that he says aren’t complying with that law.

Braun’s executive order also said the Indiana National Guard will cooperate with requests related to immigration “to the fullest extent permitted by law.”

The Indiana National Guard is currently deployed to the southern U.S. border, to assist states with border security. Braun said he’ll continue that deployment.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.