Central Indiana DSA’s Fully Funded, Fully Public committee condemns Indiana Attorney General’s lawsuit against Indianapolis Public Schools for “hindering” ICE agents in the strongest possible terms.
Rokita’s lawsuit against IPS is not about “safety,” law, or protecting children. It is a calculated act of political intimidation. It is an attempt to turn classrooms into checkpoints and force educators to act as immigration agents.
Rokita is willing to tear families apart to score points with the far right. He is willing to waste taxpayer money attacking public schools, forcing them to engage with frivolous lawsuits and waste limited funding instead of supporting them. He is willing to weaponize state power against immigrant communities while claiming to defend “Hoosier values.”
We stand firmly with immigrant families, with students, with educators. Furthermore, we stand with the IPS Board of Commissioners, whose forceful statement in response to this lawsuit made clear that their mission is to create “safe, supportive, and welcoming learning environments for all students,” and who rightly called out this lawsuit as “silly litigation and political posturing” that burdens students, families, and taxpayers.
We strongly support the board’s clear stand against dehumanizing language from the Attorney General. Our students are not “criminal illegal aliens.” They are children and human beings who contribute to our community, who enrich our schools, and who deserve joy, stability, and opportunity.
It is worth noting that at the time of writing, we have seen no similar statement from Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, charter-friendly city-county councillors, or higher ups at billionaire-backed local pro-charter organizations like The Mind Trust and RISE Indy, all of whom ostensibly want to “put children first.” This silence indicates complicity, and it shows where their priorities really lie: with the conservative forces seeking to privatize the public good.
We will defend our neighbors, we will protect our children, and we will organize until every student in Indiana can walk into school without fear.