The November election of Donald Trump has sparked fresh hope for many lifelong residents of a small Indiana town grappling with an influx of migrants.
Seymour, a southern Indiana town about an hour south of Indianapolis, has become a focal point of the border crisis under President Joe Biden. At a recent town hall, Dana Clark, 66, voiced her optimism: “Trump brought hope. Day one is going to see the biggest deportation ever.”
This once-quiet community has been struggling to cope with the fallout of Biden’s immigration policies. The debate heated up after a tragic incident claimed the life of James Bradley Castner, who was killed by a migrant driving without a license. For Seymour residents, this wasn’t an isolated concern—it was the tipping point.
Even before this tragedy, tensions were rising. Mayor Matt Nicholson, a Republican first elected in 2019 and now serving his second term, introduced a 68-page plan from the left-leaning Brookings Institution to increase migrant numbers in the area. The proposal, which included building a large migrant welcoming center, didn’t sit well with many locals. It unleashed a wave of outrage during contentious city hall meetings and fueled a Facebook group that rallied opposition.
Over the decades, Seymour has seen a demographic shift. In the 1990s, Hispanics made up only 1% of the population. By 2020, that number had surged to 26%, and immigration cases skyrocketed from just 66 in 2021 to 435 in the last year alone. The rapid changes left residents grappling with how to manage housing, schools, and healthcare while preserving the town’s character.
State Representative Jim Lucas, a Republican from Seymour, highlighted the strain on local resources, including a downtown health clinic overwhelmed with migrant patients and schools struggling to accommodate non-English-speaking students. The growing frustrations even led one Facebook group organizer to win a seat on the City Council.
Amid these challenges, rumors that Seymour might be functioning as a sanctuary city only added fuel to the fire. During an October meeting, Councilmember Drew Storey addressed these concerns: “I’m not okay with us being a sanctuary city. I am not. But I can’t tell you that we are,” he told WAVE-TV. Mayor Nicholson, meanwhile, repeatedly assured residents that Seymour welcomes legal migrants but has no policies classifying it as a sanctuary city.
The tragic death of James Bradley Castner intensified the call for action. Castner lost his life on March 27 when an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, driving without a license or insurance, collided with his vehicle. To the family’s dismay, prosecutors released the driver without filing charges for the fatal crash. “It was as if Brad’s life didn’t matter,” a family member told the Versailles Republican in November.
In response, Marine Corps veteran Mike Wright, a key figure in the Facebook group, worked with Castner’s family to draft “Brad’s Law.” The proposed legislation would make it a felony for unlicensed drivers to cause injuries in car accidents and require state prosecutors to track crimes committed by noncitizens. “The intent is to establish a better set of tools for our statewide justice system in addressing illegal immigrant crime,” Wright explained.
Seymour isn’t alone in this struggle. Logansport, another Indiana town, has also been overwhelmed by migrants, including thousands from Haiti, over the past few years. With a population of just 18,000, the town has faced mounting pressures on housing, schools, healthcare, and employment.
For many in Seymour and similar communities, Donald Trump’s presidency represents a beacon of hope. They’re looking to his administration to bring relief to towns overwhelmed by Biden’s border policies. As Trump prepares to take office next month, residents are eager for change.
