ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr recently joined a 13-state coalition in support of Indiana’s right to defend and enforce its sanctuary cities law.

“Local governments should not be allowed to pick and choose which laws they want to follow,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “We joined this multistate coalition because we believe sanctuary jurisdictions — cities and localities that prohibit or otherwise obstruct cooperation between federal and local officials on immigration enforcement — defy the rule of law and deprive law enforcement of the tools necessary for effective civil and criminal enforcement.”

Late last year, Marion County, Indiana voluntarily entered into a consent decree in federal district court that would allow the county to ignore Indiana’s laws requiring it to comply with federal immigration law, including federal detainer requests. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill sought to intervene in the case to defend the state’s own laws, but the district court denied Indiana’s request. The multi-state coalition’s brief supports Indiana’s appeal of that ruling and explains that States must be able to intervene in such proceedings to defend the proper application and scope of their sanctuary cities law.

In September of 2017, Georgia joined a separate multi-state amicus brief in support of a Texas law, Senate Bill 4, that prohibits local entities and officials from interfering with federal immigration enforcement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the majority of Senate Bill 4 last week.

Led by Texas, the following states are also a part of the current multi-state coalition in support of Indiana: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia, along with Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and Maine Governor Paul LePage.

View the brief here: http://bit.ly/2pf7liQ.