Indianapolis, IN
Reports of ICE surge in Indianapolis prompt congressional inquiry
Reports of stepped up immigration enforcement activity in Indianapolis have drawn sharply divided reactions this week — an immigrant aid group warning of racial profiling at traffic stops, a U.S. senator celebrating the crackdown and city officials insisting they’ve had no role in it. Now, Democrat U.S. Rep. André Carson wants an explanation from federal officials.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not confirmed an increase in enforcement activity or provided WFYI an official account of its operations in Marion County.
Numerous social media users have posted photos and videos of ICE agents and other officers with the word “police” arresting people around the city. Some officers appeared to be wearing masks. WFYI has not been able to verify the posts.
Carson, who represents most of Indianapolis and all of Marion County, launched a congressional inquiry seeking the scope and probable cause in the “apparent increased enforcement” in Marion County.
Carson sent a letter addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturella. “I write to demand information on reports of a surge in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests across Indianapolis, including operations involving masked agents, unmarked vehicles, and a dangerous foot pursuit across multiple lanes of traffic,” he wrote. Carson asked for a reply by Sept. 9.
Carson’s letter seeks “information on any increase in enforcement operations in my district, the authority under which these operations are being conducted, and what safeguards are in place to protect my constituents’ constitutional rights and physical safety,” including the probable cause for the agency’s operations.
Carson also said his office can help constituents with detained family members and can request answers. The office compiled a list of legal resources at carson.house.gov.
U.S. Senator Jim Banks said ICE agents have a constitutional responsibility to deport people who are not in the country lawfully.
“Those who obstruct ICE operations in Indiana should be arrested and prosecuted,” Banks wrote in a social media post. “We will not let Indianapolis become Minneapolis.”
Indiana’s Republican-controlled state government supports the Trump administration’s expanded immigration enforcement. Lawmakers passed Senate Enrolled Act 76, known as the FAIRNESS Act, earlier this year — a law that requires schools, local governments, police departments and sheriff’s offices to follow and work with federal immigration enforcement.
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith expressed support for ICE. This follows his appearance in a video last month at a private event billed as the nation’s first “mass deportation rally” in Clinton County.
“I proudly support all ICE officers in our state today removing illegal immigrants and helping to keep Hoosiers safe,” he wrote on social media.
ICE responded to a WFYI email seeking details about its activities in Indiana. The agency did not provide any details or answer those questions. But an unidentified spokesperson said ICE works to enforce immigration laws every day in all 50 states.
ICE also provided a list of five people it arrested in Indiana described as “the worst of the worst” in the email, but the agency would not clarify when those people were arrested or detained. In response to questions seeking clarification, the agency provided the administration’s account of how many people had been arrested, deported or left the U.S.
Indianapolis responds
Local officials in Marion County have not been able to provide details and say that they are not involved.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office said in a statement that ICE has not communicated with any city or county agency.
“Neither the Mayor’s Office nor any agency within the City-County enterprise has received any communication from federal immigration enforcement authorities regarding current or future operations in Marion County,” Hogsett’s statement said in part.
Indianapolis City-County Council President Maggie Lewis said the council understands the concern and uncertainty the reports of ICE may create for residents and families across our community.
“At this time, we have no information indicating that federal immigration authorities have formally changed their approach or are specifically targeting Indianapolis.”
Indianapolis law enforcement agencies echoed the city leaders’ statements in emails to WFYI.
“IMPD is not involved in any immigration enforcement operations,” the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Information Office said. “Our focus remains local public safety and crime reduction.”
“Other than what is being reported in local media, we have no information regarding ongoing ICE investigations. Please refer to DHS for further information,” said Marion County Sheriff’s Office Director of Communications Katie Stanley.
Exodus Refugee Immigration, a local support group, spoke out about the recent apparent increase in ICE activity in Marion County.
“There’s been a rapid increase in ICE activity here in Indy, and in Bloomington,” said Exodus CEO Cole Varga in a video statement posted online. He said that Latino and Haitian residents “are heavily affected right now,” and that immigrants who recently lost Temporary Protected Status and others are primarily being targeted via traffic stops and racial profiling.
The organization urged its clients not to drive right now and is launching a transportation fund with a goal to raise $10,000 to help clients get rides via Uber. It is also seeking volunteers to help with grocery delivery and donations of supplemental food items.
Contact WFYI data journalist Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.
See Colts unveil new food, concessions at Lucas Oil Stadium for 2026
The Colts invited IndyStar to their annual culinary showcase for an early taste of new concessions coming to Lucas Oil Stadium this season. See our rapid-fire reviews.
The college football season kicks off in earnest this weekend, and if there’s one belief I will take to my grave, it’s that every team should have a guy in a big dumb costume jumping around on the sidelines at all times.
Naturally, I was overjoyed this time last year when after nearly 60 years my alma mater, Indiana University, brought back its own big dumb guy in the form of Hoosier the Bison (who was, it should be noted, actually a gal). I can only assume the return of IU’s long-absent mascot was responsible for the football team’s unprecedented 16-0 championship run.
In honor of that revived Indiana tradition, for this week’s INdulge I plowed through:
The next dish you should try in Indy
One of the few restaurants to which I gave any of my precious tutoring income during my time at IU was the Bloomington-based Upland Brewing Company, home not only to many reputable beers but also a very solid buffalo chili that I recently enjoyed at the brewery’s SoBro location.
Though the stew’s star ingredient is listed as buffalo rather than bison on the menu, the two terms are used interchangeably in the United States. The American buffalo, otherwise known by the charming moniker Bison bison, belongs to an entirely different genus than the “true buffalo” native to Africa and Asia.
Upland sources its buffalo meat from Spencer-based Red Frazier Bison, whose ground bison largely profiles as beef with a little extra heft to it, thanks to the bovine’s relatively low fat content. Some claim bison’s largely grass-exclusive diet gives its meat a subtle sweetness, though in Upland’s chili your taste buds will likely be preoccupied by the peppery spice blend and soothing tomato stew base.
The chili also gets a pop of vegetal sweetness from diced carrots, and a starchy three-bean medley lends a good amount of bulk. On a map of regional styles – refer to last year’s Labor Day weekend-edition INdulge for a chili 101 primer – Upland’s version lands closest to the tomatoey, gently spiced offerings of central Illinois and the broader Midwest. The dish is deeply comforting, particularly when adorned with a slowly disappearing cloud of shredded cheese and a bunch of bristling red onion.
Burger and beer enthusiasts have probably noticed the bison’s rise from a culinary standpoint, but this merely reflects the fluffy bovine’s much more dramatic ecological renaissance. More than an estimated 60 million bison once roamed and fed on the grass-rich plains of North America, many of them in the Midwest. The famed Buffalo Trace, a stretch of trampled grass paths created by migratory bison, served as a makeshift roadway and frequent food source for tribes such as the Miami. Then European settlers arrived.
Already a popular trade route for the French in the 1700s, the Buffalo Trace became a highly sought-after bridge between the nascent Northwest Territory and the land the United States acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. To clear the Buffalo Trace, settlers armed with rifles hunted bison nearly to extinction with incredible speed. Records suggest the last wild Indiana bison was killed in Orange County in 1830.
American bison hunting had the (very much intended) consequence of displacing countless Native Americans who relied on the mega-bovine for its meat and hides. That said, buffalo killings did not go completely unchecked. Zoologist William Temple Hornaday founded the American Bison Society in 1905 with President Theodore Roosevelt’s support, and many conservationists established sanctuaries throughout the Great Plains over the following decades.
Today in Indiana, descendants of the same tribes that once participated in the delicate ecological balance between human and herd operate a number of bison sanctuaries. These conservation efforts are a big part of why we have been able to enjoy the bison’s resurgence on the gastropub menu and, in the case of IU, on the football field.
I encourage you to give Upland’s superlative ode to the buffalo a try, especially as the weather cools. I see the next few months largely as a time to watch football and eat chili, and seeing as the sports side of things can’t really get any better than last year, I suspect I’ll be reserving much of my emotional stock for the stew.
What: Buffalo chili; $8 cup, $12 bowl
Where: Upland Brewing Company, Multiple Indianapolis-area locations, uplandbeer.com
In case that’s not your thing: Upland offers a fairly ambitious brand of pub grub, with upscale takes on classics like smoked wings ($16.50) and truffle fries ($14), entrées ranging from a classic pork tenderloin sandwich ($15.50) to steak frites ($37), salads ($11 to $17) and burgers ($15.50 to $17.50) with beef from Fischer Farms in Jasper or, if you’re looking to stay on theme, Red Frazier Bison meat.
Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@indystar.com. You can follow him on Instagram @BradleyHohulin and stay up to date with Indy dining news by signing up for the Indylicious newsletter.
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