JOHNSON CO. — Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Johnson County Park on Sunday to protest the use of Camp Atterbury as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility.
Organized by District 9 U.S. Congressional candidate Brad Meyer, the protest comes a month after a federal announcement that Homeland Security can use the military base to house undocumented immigrants. More than 200 people attended the rally, which took place just a few miles from Camp Atterbury.
Demonstrators carried posters with phrases like, “No Hoosier concentration camps,” “ICE out of Indiana,” and “God loves everyone.” Meyer addressed the crowd, speaking out against the plan. “If we allow one group to be segregated and not get their legal right, then any of us can be attacked. We either hang together or hang separately,” he said.
Meyer stated that the protest was organized to rally people before ICE begins housing individuals at the facility, as the timeline for that is not yet clear. He also expressed his opposition on economic and strategic grounds. “We need more workers. Economically, it makes sense; it makes our country stronger if we embrace these people and do not detain them and throw them out,” Meyer said.
The decision has drawn support from some state Republicans, including Representative Jefferson Shreve and Attorney General Todd Rokita, who have voiced their approval for Camp Atterbury to house detainees.
