We call on the Clark County Sheriff to end the voluntary participation in ICE detention and for other Clark County officials to speak out.

Do Something Southern Indiana is a nonpartisan, inclusive community of neighbors and advocates committed to democracy, justice, dignity, and informed civic action. Those values require clarity—especially when government actions conflict with the principles that guide us.

People are being held in our jail. Someone’s mother. Someone’s father. Someone’s child. Someone’s neighbor. They are workers, parents, and members of this community. Their humanity does not disappear when they enter the Clark County Jail. They are not bed counts or revenue lines.

Our mission and values demand that we defend constitutional protections, fairness, and the inherent dignity of every person — especially those who are vulnerable, unpopular, or unable to exercise political power. Principles mean nothing if we abandon them when they are difficult.

This is not a debate about national immigration policy. Reasonable people disagree about immigration law and its enforcement. Clark County did not create that debate.

This is about one local choice.

Clark County voluntarily entered into a paid agreement to hold people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The county is not required to participate. The agreement can be ended.

Yet residents were never asked. No referendum. No public hearing. No community conversation. County records show no deliberation by the Board of Commissioners or the County Council.

So, residents are asking now—in meetings, in letters, in public‑records requests, in peaceful gatherings. That is not disruption. That is democracy. Government belongs to the people it serves, and citizens have both the right and the responsibility to question what is done in their name.

There also are fiscal questions that remain unanswered. Revenue is not the same as benefit. Responsible governance requires an honest accounting of staffing, medical care, transportation, administration, insurance, and the legal liability assumed when a county takes custody of people for the federal government. To date, that accounting has not been done.

This is not a partisan position. DSSIN endorses no party and no candidate. Our positions follow our mission and core values, not a platform. People of all political identities can reasonably ask the same questions:

Is this necessary? Is it fiscally responsible? What risk are Clark County taxpayers carrying? Is this what we want our county government to do?

Our answer is no.

The Clark County Sheriff chose to participate. The Clark County Sheriff can choose differently.

A community is measured by more than the revenue it collects. It is measured by how it treats people in its custody and whether its government remains accountable to the people it serves.

Do Something Southern Indiana calls on the Clark County Sheriff to end the county’s voluntary participation in ICE detention and terminate the agreement to hold immigration detainees in the Clark County Jail. Additionally, we call for other Clark County officials to speak out against participation.

We are better than this—as Americans, as Hoosiers, and as Clark County.

Not In Our Name.