INDIANAPOLIS – On North Post Road on the Far East Side in front of Mi Tierra Supermarket, residents said ICE was spotted here Thursday.
“They came in that parking lot and picked them up,” said resident Sharon Chambers, who’s lived in the area for eight years. “Two of them were in a van, and they jumped into the apartments over there, and I don’t know if they got picked up or not.”
One of the managers at Mi Tierra did not want to be on camera, but he said ICE officers came by around 9 or 10 in Thursday morning, and he wasn’t sure if they had detained anyone.
Indiana State Police told News 8 that they assisted ICE in the past few days but didn’t specify where operations were held.
News 8 did receive images from an anonymous source depicting law enforcement officers in unmarked vehicles in the vicinity. The officers were in businesses, while others were in residential areas.
Lawrence Mayor Deb Whitfield said ICE did not contact her office ahead of the activity. She said she is concerned about ICE involvement and their presence in the neighborhood.
One resident requested not to be identified for fear of retaliation.
“I don’t like the way ICE goes to the store or laundromat to take over to catch people,” the person said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
The person also said it makes people nervous, saying some are scared to go to work.
Due to heightened safety concerns, some said their neighbors are staying in.
“They’re trying to survive like we are,” Chambers said. “All they do is go to work, go home, and take care of their families. They don’t do nothing, and I don’t understand why ICE is harassing them. They’re scared to come out because they’re scared to get picked up.”
The residents in the neighborhood are shaken. Some don’t want to speak on camera, but they said they do not want ICE here.