Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is investigating a Monroe County refugee nonprofit for alleged labor trafficking and interference with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to Monday press release, Rokita issued a civil investigative demand — a subpoena to gather information during invesitagtions — to Exodus Refugee Immigration, an Indianapolis-based resettlement nonprofit that maintains an office in Bloomington.
Exodus CEO Cole Varga said it received the CID from Rokita’s office Monday morning.
“Upon review, there is absolutely no justification for this demand, and we have already contacted counsel,” Varga said in an email. “And, in stark contrast to the Attorney General’s statements, Exodus is in fact one of the few organizations in the state of Indiana that assists victims of human trafficking.”
The demand seeks information from Exodus about possible interference with ICE activities. According to the release, ICE officials told the attorney general’s office that agents faced “numerous challenges” during a recent operation in Monroe County where entities in Bloomington allegedly attempted to help undocumented immigrants avoid arrest.
“The mass movement of illegal aliens and others into Indiana has exposed our communities to significant public safety risks, including increased concerns about labor trafficking, as many of them are brought to the state to provide low-cost labor,” Rokita said in the press release.
He added that local officials, including Monroe County Sheriff Ruben Marté are “making the problem worse.”
The civil subpoena continues Rokita’s investigative work into other nonprofits and private companies to find alleged “labor trafficking” of undocumented immigrants. He began investigating in November.
According to a November press release, Rokita issued several CIDs to companies and organizations in Evansville, Logansport and Seymour. Recipients of the demands include Cass County Health Department, Logansport Community School Corporation, Berry Global Group Inc., Tent Partnership for Refugees, God is Good Foundation and Jackson County Industrial Development Corporation.
Berry Global and Haitian Center of Evansville are challenging the CIDs in court, according to the IndyStar.
Rokita said he is conducting investigations under the authority pursuant to Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act, which protects consumers from unfair, abusive or deceptive acts by suppliers and the indecent nuisance statute — a law that criminalizes places where human trafficking occurs.
