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Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
FBI confirms it assisted Avon police and ICE with traffic stop arrests on July 22
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it provided federal warrants to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the Avon Police Department, who were conducting arrests of undocumented migrants on July 22. Fox59 first broke the news on July 23 that ICE and Avon police were working together to conduct a "traffic blitz" in Avon, Indiana, approximately three miles from the Marion County border. The "traffic blitz" resulted in the arrests of approximately 20 people after police conducted traffic stops based on traffic violations, registration violations and aggressive driving, according to Fox59. When Avon officers encountered individuals who were "undocumented and/or unlicensed foreign nationals," officers contacted ICE agents to investigate the person, according to a statement Avon Police Chief Sean Stoops provided to Fox59. It's unclear where the people arrested currently are. They did not appear in the Hendricks County jail roster on July 23 or July 24. In an email to the IndyStar, an FBI spokesperson confirmed that the agency had been assisting ICE with operations for several months, and that it provided federal agents with federal warrants "as needed." The spokesperson added that FBI agents did not physically assist in July 22 arrests. IndyStar reached out to the Avon Police Department for comment but did not receive an answer by the time of publication. Neither the Avon Police Department nor the Hendricks County Sheriff's office have sent in a formal application to participate in ICE's 287(g) program, which allows ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove criminal migrants who agree to leave the U.S. An uptick in non-criminal ICE arrests In late May, Stephen Miller, a deputy White House chief of staff and architect of Trump's immigration agenda, set a quota for at least 3,000 arrests per day and told ICE leadership to target anyone without legal status. This call to action has led to a significant spike in migrants detained by ICE, according to data collected by the Deportation Data Project, which is a dataset built by journalists, researchers, lawyers, and policymakers using the Freedom of Information Act. The database showcases that in June 2025 the number of non-criminal arrests had surpassed the number of people being arrested with either a criminal conviction or pending charges. Axios Indianapolis recently reported that in June, "23% of the 309 people ICE arrested in the state had no criminal charge," according to Axios. Indiana Governor Mike Braun told Axios that, "If that data is correct, I'd say that should raise eyebrows." "Because I've been clearly on record: the worst first. And there are many of them out there," he said. In June 2025, IndyStar reported on several ICE detainments that had either been captured on file or shared by community leaders. These detainments were a notable contrast to how federal agents had conducted arrests in prior months. Witnesses told IndyStar that some of those arrests started off as traffic stops before the person found themselves detained by federal agents. In July 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted on social media that its Indianapolis team had made more than 30 arrests in a 24-hour period, saying that this number was due to the "cooperative agencies across Indiana, including 287(g) partners." Noe Padilla is a Public Safety reporter for IndyStar. Contact him at npadilla@ follow him on X @1NoerPadilla or on Bluesky @ This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: FBI confirms it assisted Avon police and ICE with arrest on July 22
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
FBI confirms it assisted Avon police and ICE with traffic stop arrests on July 22
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it provided federal warrants to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and the Avon Police Department, who were conducting arrests of undocumented migrants on July 22. Fox59 first broke the news on July 23 that ICE and Avon police were working together to conduct a "traffic blitz" in Avon, Indiana, approximately three miles from the Marion County border. The "traffic blitz" resulted in the arrests of approximately 20 people after police conducted traffic stops based on traffic violations, registration violations and aggressive driving, according to Fox59. When Avon officers encountered individuals who were "undocumented and/or unlicensed foreign nationals," officers contacted ICE agents to investigate the person, according to a statement Avon Police Chief Sean Stoops provided to Fox59. It's unclear where the people arrested currently are. They did not appear in the Hendricks County jail roster on July 23 or July 24. In an email to the IndyStar, an FBI spokesperson confirmed that the agency had been assisting ICE with operations for several months, and that it provided federal agents with federal warrants "as needed." The spokesperson added that FBI agents did not physically assist in July 22 arrests. IndyStar reached out to the Avon Police Department for comment but did not receive an answer by the time of publication. Neither the Avon Police Department nor the Hendricks County Sheriff's office have sent in a formal application to participate in ICE's 287(g) program, which allows ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove criminal migrants who agree to leave the U.S. In late May, Stephen Miller, a deputy White House chief of staff and architect of Trump's immigration agenda, set a quota for at least 3,000 arrests per day and told ICE leadership to target anyone without legal status. This call to action has led to a significant spike in migrants detained by ICE, according to data collected by the Deportation Data Project, which is a dataset built by journalists, researchers, lawyers, and policymakers using the Freedom of Information Act. The database showcases that in June 2025 the number of non-criminal arrests had surpassed the number of people being arrested with either a criminal conviction or pending charges. Axios Indianapolis recently reported that in June, "23% of the 309 people ICE arrested in the state had no criminal charge," according to Axios. Indiana Governor Mike Braun told Axios that, "If that data is correct, I'd say that should raise eyebrows." "Because I've been clearly on record: the worst first. And there are many of them out there," he said. In June 2025, IndyStar reported on several ICE detainments that had either been captured on file or shared by community leaders. These detainments were a notable contrast to how federal agents had conducted arrests in prior months. Witnesses told IndyStar that some of those arrests started off as traffic stops before the person found themselves detained by federal agents. In July 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted on social media that its Indianapolis team had made more than 30 arrests in a 24-hour period, saying that this number was due to the "cooperative agencies across Indiana, including 287(g) partners."
