Residents voice concerns at illegal immigration town hall

Illegal immigration is often depicted as a problem for border states, but local residents say it’s an issue for Indiana — and Johnson County — too.

For over an hour, several community members expressed their concerns about illegal immigration and it’s impact on businesses and communities during a town hall organized by State Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, on Thursday night. Nearly 40 residents crowded into a meeting room at the Pleasant Township Trustee’s Office in Whiteland to speak out about the issue, with Davis and a legislative staffer taking notes to gather ideas and answer questions on how it can be addressed at the Indiana Statehouse.

Two Republican congressional candidates — State Rep. Mike Speedy, R-Indianapolis, and former Indianapolis mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve, both of who are running for Indiana’s 6th District — were in attendance but did not speak at Davis’ request.

Davis is for welcoming immigrants who are properly documented and vetted, it’s those who are not that “bother” her, she said.

“If people come legally and they’re vetted and they’re documented, I’m all for welcoming them here,” Davis said. “It’s the unvetted, undocumented people who are coming through and not being lawful citizens in our state that bothers me.”

Davis’ research

Before community members spoke, Davis spoke about some of the research she had done on immigration. To “get a feel” for the impact on the community, she researched the number of students and Clark-Pleasant and Greenwood schools who were English Language Learners — students who are learning English as a non-native language.

The number of ELL at Greenwood schools has doubled in the last five years, with 7% of Greenwood’s total number of students being classified as such. The district has added three new staff members because new ELL students are entering the program with a lower level of English skills, Davis said.

Clark-Pleasant’s ELL numbers have more than doubled in the last five years. It is now at 10.6% of their total population in their schools, she said.

The increase in ELL students can be attributed to students who have emigrated from a wide variety of countries. Clark-Pleasant officials have previously told the Daily Journal about 60 different languages and dialects are spoken in its school system. Greenwood officials previously said they’ve seen an increase in Punjabi, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Chin and Haitian Creole speaking students, in addition to students whose native language is Spanish.

The state of Indiana is spending millions to skill up youth to get industry-recognized certifications like welding, landscaping and construction trades. If illegal immigration isn’t addressed, Davis feels that opportunities for youth to take part in trades will disappear, she said.

In her four years at the Statehouse, lawmakers have not voted on legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to have driver’s licenses — something she is personally against. Indiana does not need to become a “soft landing spot” for illegal immigrants, and “we need to protect what we have for our youth,” she said.

Community speaks out

One resident, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, said he was concerned Johnson County would end up like Seymour, which has seen a large rise in the number of ELL students. The school district there does not have the resources to handle the increase, he said.

He also spoke of workplace concerns. The illegal immigrants may be working here, but they are not paying all of the taxes citizens do, the man said.

Another community member said society has “grown numb” to the illegal immigration issue over the last 20 years.

Seymour again came up when a man asked about a reported Indiana Economic Development Commission project involving an immigrant welcome center in the city. The center stems from a series of development recommendations provided by the Brookings Institute and supported by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Brookings announced its plan to partner with Seymour to “co-create community-centered economic inclusion programs” in November 2022, The Tribune, a sister newspaper of the Daily Journal reported in March.

Seymour residents were opposed to the idea of an immigrant welcome center, with some suggesting it would attract illegal immigrants and make Seymour a de-facto “sanctuary city.” Proponents of the center said it was designed to be a resource center and Seymour wouldn’t become a sanctuary city, The Tribune reported.

The study, and the project, are not moving forward at this time due to the opposition and votes against it by Seymour City Council members, The Tribune reported last month.

About halfway through the town hall, the conversation shifted toward payroll fraud and illegal immigration.

People expressed concerns the state is losing a lot of money because employers are “turning a blind eye” to individuals and allowing them to work as independent contractors for cash under the table. No taxes are being paid, a man who works as a contractor told those in attendance.

One woman asked why wouldn’t the employer, in this case a contractor, be held responsible. Another person asked about the laws in place to hold someone accountable, and the man said no one was enforcing them, he said.

After this talking point, someone asked about having a community forum with the Johnson County Commissioners and prosecutors to discuss possible legal avenues with enforcement and addressing illegal immigration. Davis said they could “absolutely” have another forum sometime after the primary election and invite them, but she couldn’t make anyone attend.

Town hall a success

The town hall went better than Davis expected, she said after the event.

“People don’t always like to attend political things but I feel like this is an important issue,” Davis said. “I felt like we got that tonight, that people have the same concerns.”

Davis appreciated everyone’s honesty and feedback, and looks forward to holding another event. Going forward, she plans to bring up the issues discussed with her colleagues at the Indiana Statehouse, she said.

Those unable to attend the town hall can still give feedback to Davis by emailing [email protected].

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