ICAP served as lead counsel for the City of Gary, Indiana, in defending its “Welcoming City” ordinance against a major legal challenge. The ordinance, enacted in 2017, was designed to protect the rights of immigrant residents by limiting local law enforcement’s voluntary participation in federal immigration investigations. A group of plaintiffs, backed by national anti-immigrant organizations, sued the city, alleging that the ordinance violated a state statute (Indiana Code § 5-2-18.2) that prohibits local “sanctuary city” policies.
ICAP successfully argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit because they had not suffered any specific, concrete injury. In July 2022, the Indiana Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in favor of the City of Gary, holding that the state’s “public standing” doctrine and the specific citizen-suit provision of the anti-sanctuary statute did not exempt plaintiffs from the constitutional requirement to demonstrate a personal injury. By securing the dismissal of the lawsuit, ICAP protected Gary’s ability to foster community trust between local police and immigrant residents, while establishing a critical precedent that prevents uninjured litigants from using Indiana’s courts to challenge local government policies.
