State Rep. Alex Burton (D-Evansville) issued a statement criticizing current immigration enforcement efforts and called for comprehensive, humane policy solutions that address Indiana’s critical workforce shortages in health care and agriculture.
As federal officials, including “Border Czar” Tom Homan, promote immigration enforcement measures in Indiana, Burton argues that the state’s focus should shift from detention and enforcement toward practical solutions that strengthen Indiana’s economy, health care system and food security.
Burton released the following statement:
“Indiana is failing our people and its economy. Our state is drifting further away from the values that built our communities with hard work, compassion and common sense. Instead of focusing on solutions that actually help families, we’re spending time on political stunts that divide us and distract from the real issues Hoosiers face every day.
“The legislature must stop taking orders from Washington, D.C., and start focusing on everyday hardworking Hoosiers. As families face rising costs for energy, rent, groceries and child care heading into the holidays, our state’s priorities remain deeply misaligned.
“What began as a focus on violent offenders has now expanded into a sweeping overreach that tears families apart, jeopardizes our health care and food security, and drives up the prices Hoosiers pay at the grocery store. This is not immigration reform — it’s political theater that ignores real solutions.
“The answer is not detaining the very people responsible for Indiana’s population growth in rural, urban and suburban communities. We are wasting limited resources without improving outcomes for anyone.
“This mean-spirited approach will also strain law enforcement and local governments already stretched thin. With communities still dealing with consequences of SEA 1, placing even more burdens on local agencies and schools is unconscionable.
“Hoosiers deserve solutions that uplift our workforce, keep families together and move our economy forward, not policies that pit neighbors against one another.”
