Little change to police protocols despite immigration crackdown

Despite proposed legislation threatening to tighten immigration enforcement still looming, local law enforcement will not be seeing much protocol changes. 

Proposed House Bill 1531 would create a new mandate that includes local compliance with federal detainer requests. The bill further states that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could also be able to ask other law enforcement agencies to hold onto “potentially dangerous aliens” for an additional 48 hours.

Fulton County Sheriff Travis Heishman said although ICE has been beefing up its efforts on collecting undocumented immigrants from local jails during the past six weeks. In Fulton County, the 48-hour hold on undocumented immigrants is nothing new.  

Heishman said undocumented immigrants booked at the Fulton County Jail have always been fingerprinted and reported to ICE, even prior to the new protocol being introduced. Once booked into the jail, Heishman said undocumented immigrants are put on a 48-hour hold, giving ICE the opportunity to collect the individual if they're able to do so. 

Heishman said ICE had only stopped at the Fulton County Jail twice in 2024. So far this year, however, ICE has more than doubled its stops for pickup at the jail. 

Heishman pointed out that local law enforcement are not federal agents and do not track those who are documented or undocumented. He also said, so far, he has not seen any ICE agents with their boots on the ground looking for undocumented immigrants in the area who are not already detained. 

“The ICE agents coming to the area are for pickup, so in other words, they're not out looking for people. They're just going around to local jails for transport and process,“ Heishman said. 

Warsaw attorney Travis McConnell says in 10 years of practicing law, he's never seen as many immigration calls as he has in 2025. While McConnell says he hasn't seen any local raids at churches or schools locally or anywhere else in the country and feels the current target is those who have been arrested and detained at local jails. 

McConnell hosted a public meeting in Warsaw in mid-February that highlighted President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown as a way to keep locals informed on the changes. He also spoke on recently proposed federal and state budget cuts. 

A frequent charge seen in undocumented individuals is driving without obtaining a license, a Class C misdemeanor, due to them being unable to be legally licensed for lack of paperwork. This misdemeanor is enough to spark deportation now more than ever before. McConnell said undocumented immigrants detained by ICE should contact a lawyer immediately to ensure their rights are protected and that their case is handled properly. 

“From what I understand, ICE is definitely coming through the local jails a lot more right now,“ McConnell said. “In the past six weeks I've had five calls about ICE detention in the area. During my decade-long career, before 2025, I had only had one client dealing with ICE."