Indiana GOP Gov. Mike Braun just signed a bill into law that will provide the Hoosier State’s attorney general, Todd Rokita, with the power to slap penalties on so-called “sanctuary” county and city governments, and hospitals, along with state-funded colleges and universities. Rokita took to social media platform X to post about the legislation.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions are unlawful,” he said, adding, “Hiring illegal aliens is unlawful. It’s long past time Indiana crack down on employers and local governments who act as magnets for criminals.” The legislation, known as the Senate Enrolled Act 76, was signed into law on March 5, 2026. The bill prohibits schools, hospitals, and local governments from stopping employees from cooperating with federal immigration officials in both written and unwritten policies.
The new law will also require local law enforcement departments to work with immigration enforcement agencies. Employers who hire illegal aliens will also be hit with additional penalties. “This new law makes it easier for local law enforcement to do the right thing: remove criminal illegal aliens from our communities,” Rokita went on to say in a statement after the law made it through the state legislature.
According to Breitbart News, Rokita also said, “In addition, the law authorizes our office to pursue penalties against employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens, and it enhances the State’s ability to track the use of public benefits, including Medicaid, by non-citizens. Together, these reforms help advance our mission of combating illegal immigration in Indiana and protecting Hoosiers.”
One of the situations that led to the creation of the bill happened in January 2025, but it was the result of legislation passed in 2017 that directed employees not to provide Immigration & Customs Enforcement officers with assistance in their efforts to apprehend illegal aliens. ICE agents were attempting to deport a Honduran man and his son, who was an Indianapolis Public Schools student.
The agents contacted IPS, which then refused to release the child into ICE custody without a judicial warrant or other court order, according to a report from the Indiana Lawyer. Rokita then filed an investigative demand, which led to IPS modifying its policy. However, this wasn’t enough to ease Rokita’s mind. IPS then rescinded that policy in January and dismissed Rokita’s claims that the school violated the law.
A hearing was held on IPS’ motion on March 5, the same day Gov. Braun signed SEA 76 into law. Now Rokita wants the court to take another look into his office’s previous allegations that IPS broke the law. “The enactment of SEA 76 provides further indication that Section 3 of Indiana Code ch. 5-2-18.2, even absent the amendments made by SEA 76, applies to restrictions local government entities place on their own employees, meaning that Defendant’s restrictions on its own employees’ communications with federal authorities are actionable under Section 3,” Rokita’s office stated in its request, filed on Monday.
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The report goes on to reveal that Rokita has two additional cases currently pending regarding the anti-sanctuary city statute. The attorney general brought a case against Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marte in 2024, alleging that he violated Indiana law by placing restrictions on cooperation with immigration officers. In January 2026, he filed a lawsuit against St. Joseph County Sheriff Bill Redman for similar allegations.