EVANSVILLE – Multiple people from Evansville were booked into a Kentucky jail after being arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, records show.
Online bookings for the Hopkins County Jail in Madisonville showed three men with Evansville addresses lodged into the detention facility Thursday afternoon. That’s on top of at least three more who were booked Wednesday. All had ICE listed as the arresting agency.
The three apprehended Wednesday were listed as being released, but it’s unclear if they were set free or moved into another another detention facility. ICE offers a searchable database for those in custody. To locate someone, you either need a person’s birth country or what the agency calls their “A-number.” None of those were available as of Thursday.
Indiana court records didn’t show pending or completed criminal charges against any of the men, and no specific charges were listed in Hopkins County bookings. Because of that, the Courier & Press isn’t naming them here.
Reports of ICE activity in Evansville continued to circulate on social media Friday, with photographs purporting to show Indiana State Police troopers assisting federal agents. ISP Evansville Post spokesman Sgt. Seth Rainey would neither confirm nor deny the agency’s participation in federal immigration operations in and around Evansville.
“The Indiana State Police does have troopers who have completed 287(g) training as part of Governor Braun’s public safety initiative,” Rainey said in a statement, referring to the program under which state and local law enforcement can be trained and deputized to act as immigration agents. “Indiana State Police routinely works alongside our local, county, state, and federal law enforcement partners as part of our daily mission.
“Indiana State Police does not comment on federal immigration detainees or related federal enforcement actions,” Rainey continued. “Any questions regarding specific operations involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security should be directed to those agencies.”
EPD, VCSO say they’re not assisting
News of ICE raids in Evansville started rocketing around social media early Thursday afternoon. One post, shared by multiple people, claimed the stops took place on Washington Avenue and South Riverside Drive, with local law enforcement chipping in.
On Thursday, however, EPD spokesman Sgt. Anthony Aussieker told the Courier & Press EPD had “not been made aware of any ICE operations.” He then pointed to past statements from Chief Phil Smith, who has said immigration enforcement is a federal matter, not a local one.
“We make custodial arrests depending on when Indiana statute is violated or not,” Smith told the Courier & Press last year. “Once we transport to (the) jail, that’s kind of the end of our involvement unless it goes to court.”
Sheriff Noah Robinson said his office wasn’t involved, either. As of around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, he didn’t know which outside jurisdiction was assisting.
“Our involvement with ICE is limited to the statutorily required obligation to honor immigration detainers at our jail,” he told the Courier & Press. “We have no agreement, contract, or informal partnership with ICE.”
Houston, Texas shooting
The operations in Evansville come mere days after ICE agents in Houston, Texas shot and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo: a Mexican national who had lived in the U.S. for 35 years and was working to obtain citizenship.
ICE claims an agent fired his gun in self-defense after Araujo attempted to ram ICE officials with his vehicle. No video of the confrontation confirming or disputing has been released.
His family has called for an independent investigation. They said Araujo was driving to work and may have been scared that the agents, who reportedly approached in unmarked vehicles, were actually strangers trying to steal the tools in his truck.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Records: Multiple Evansville men arrested by ICE
Reporting by Jon Webb, Sarah Loesch and Houston Harwood, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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By Jon Webb, Sarah Loesch and Houston Harwood, Evansville Courier & Press | USA TODAY Network
