WL police chief, mayor wait on Rokita to clarify threat to sue over ‘sanctuary city’ claim

Plus, WL ‘Jeopardy’ champ Adriana Harmeyer talks about win No. 5. Tax breaks OK’d for SIA’s $64.5M retool for hybrid Forester. Lafayette’s first designated outdoor drinking area closer for Upper Main

• Today’s edition is backed by sponsor The Arts Federation, presenting the Taste of Tippecanoe June 15 in downtown Lafayette. For tickets, music lineups and food vendors for the annual festival, go to tasteoftippecanoe.org.

Click here for tickets.

---

WEST LAFAYETTE POLICE CHIEF, MAYOR WAIT FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL ROKITA TO CLARIFY THREAT TO SUE OVER IMMIGRATION POLICY

Five days after being warned they were about to be sued by the Indiana attorney general, West Lafayette police on Tuesday were still trying to clarify what exactly in the department’s policy on dealing with immigration violations — one essentially copy-and-pasted from a national policy policy adviser — crossed a line with a state law banning “sanctuary cities.”

“We haven’t figured that out, yet,” West Lafayette Police Chief Troy Harris said. “We haven’t been able to get an answer the attorney general’s office, either.”

Instead, West Lafayette police have a letter from Attorney General Todd Rokita that accuses the department is using a policy that would prohibit officers from communicating or cooperating with federal officials on citizenship or immigration statuses. Rokita contended that West Lafayette police policy is “restricting the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted under federal law.”

Rokita gave Harris until June 14 to answer his letter referenced “multiple sections” of the West Lafayette Police Department’s Policy 413 on immigration violations that he claimed went against the state ban on sanctuary cities. In his letter to West Lafayette, Rokita wrote that unless the immigration violations policy is rescinded by July 1, “probable cause will exist to bring an action against the West Lafayette Police Department to compel its compliance with Indiana law – and I will do so.”

West Lafayette Mayor Erin Easter said Tuesday that the city was still reviewing the letter and Rokita’s claims and contemplating how to respond.

“First,” Easter said, “we need to know what the attorney general is asking.”

The attorney general’s office, as of Tuesday, had not addressed what Rokita meant by “multiple sections” of the WLPD manual. Josh DeFonce, media director to the attorney general’s office, said Tuesday he was looking into it.

Harris said the policy was written and updated by Lexipol, a Texas-based policy adviser for West Lafayette Police Department and others across the country, “to ensure we comply with all state and federal regulations.”