Indianapolis could soon become home to one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country.

According to reporting based on internal Department of Homeland Security planning documents, ICE is considering opening a facility in Indianapolis that could hold up to 8,500 people. The proposal is part of a nationwide expansion of warehouse-style detention centers under the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign.

No city official has publicly confirmed the plan. Mayor Joe Hogsett has said he has received no confirmation. But we have seen this pattern before: federal expansion moves quickly, often with little transparency and minimal local input.

An 8,500-bed detention center is not a minor policy shift. It would fundamentally change the character of our city.

Across the country, rapid federal immigration crackdowns have led to widespread fear in immigrant communities, strained local jails, overwhelmed legal systems, and deep unrest. Marion County’s adult detention facility has already reached capacity and announced it would not hold ICE detainees for more than 48 hours. Now DHS may attempt to bring a massive long-term detention operation into our backyard.

Immigrant Hoosiers are our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and family members. Many are asylum seekers or long-time residents with deep ties to Indiana. Expanding detention on this scale risks family separation, economic harm, and further destabilization of communities already living in fear.

At the same time, legislation moving through the Indiana General Assembly would require local entities — including schools, universities, hospitals, and law enforcement — to comply with federal immigration enforcement. Combined with a mega-detention facility, this would entangle our entire civic infrastructure in mass detention.

Indianapolis deserves transparency, community input, and policies rooted in dignity and public safety — not secretive plans to warehouse thousands of people.

We call on:

Governor Mike Braun, Mayor Joe Hogsett, The Indianapolis City-County Council, Indiana’s Congressional Delegation, The Department of Homeland Security and ICE to publicly reject any ICE mega-detention center in Indianapolis, refuse local cooperation with detention expansion, and prioritize humane, community-based alternatives.

Indianapolis is not a holding pen. We will not allow our city to become a symbol of mass incarceration and fear.

Sign this petition to say clearly: No ICE mega-detention center in Indiana.