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N. Orleans Awaits Immigration Crackdown11/20 06:09
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- New Orleans, the laid-back city known as the Big Easy
and the birthplace of jazz, where lavish parades, bead-throwing debauchery and
Creole cuisine attract tourists from around the globe, is about to become the
next staging ground for the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda.
Operation "Swamp Sweep," an expansive, monthslong immigration crackdown, is
expected to launch in southeast Louisiana Dec. 1, but Democrat-run New Orleans
is anticipating the arrival of as many as 250 federal troops as soon as Friday,
all with the backing of the state's Republican governor.
Governor Jeff Landry has sought to align New Orleans with federal
immigration enforcement efforts through legislation and legal challenges, and
the Border Patrol deployment is just the latest drive to ramp up that pressure.
And with the New Orleans Police Department being released from a federal reform
pact Wednesday, its officers will lose a legal mechanism that has long-shielded
them from having to participate in immigration enforcement.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security operation will be led by Border
Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who has already overseen aggressive campaigns
in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina.
A gung-ho Republican governor
Landry, who has close ties to the nation's top immigration officials, has
made immigration enforcement a priority.
Louisiana does not share a border with another country, yet it has become
one of the nation's largest detention hubs for Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, with a capacity upward of 6,000 detainees. In September, the Bayou
State opened the "Louisiana Lockup" inside a notorious state prison to hold
immigrants whom federal officials consider dangerous.
The governor has also highlighted crimes in which the suspect's immigration
status is in question, such as the killing of a French Quarter tour guide by a
group that included a Honduran man who entered the country illegally.
New Orleans' deep-rooted immigrant communities
New Orleans' Democratic leaders frequently butt heads with Landry and other
state officials who accuse the city of lax law enforcement and have pushed for
collaboration with the Trump administration's sweeping immigration crackdown.
Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, a Mexican-American immigrant, told The Associated
Press there is "a lot of fear" in her city and that she is working to ensure
those who could be targeted by federal agents know their rights.
"I'm very concerned about due process being violated, I'm very concerned
about racial profiling," Moreno said.
New Orleans is known for its rich blend of French, Spanish, African and
Native American cultures. It is home to more than 10,000 ethnic Vietnamese who
arrived after the Vietnam War. A city monument recognizes the thousands of
Latino workers who helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. South
Louisiana's distinctive Cajun heritage emerged from French-speaking colonists
exiled there in the 18th century.
In September, Landry requested a National Guard deployment to New Orleans,
citing rising violent crime, even though city police say crime is down and its
elected leaders say federal troops are unnecessary. Landry told Newsmax on
Wednesday that the "Swamp Sweep" operation is focused on "taking dangerous
criminals off the street."
A Landry spokesperson declined to comment to the AP on Border Patrol
operations.
Rachel Taber, an organizer with the New Orleans-based advocacy group Union
Migrante, said the influx of federal agents would have far-reaching negative
impacts.
"The same people pushing for this attack on immigrants benefit from
immigrant labor and the exploitation of immigrants," Taber said. "Who do they
think is going to clean the hotels from Mardi Gras or clean up after their
fancy Mardi Gras parade?"
Conflict over the city's immigration policies
In August, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to New Orleans Mayor
LaToya Cantrell saying the city "engages in sanctuary policies and practices
that thwart federal immigration enforcement." The city has been barred from
receiving certain federal law enforcement grants, according to Jim Craft,
executive director of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, which
distributes federal funds. Cantrell did not respond to a request for comment.
Under Landry, the GOP-dominated Louisiana Legislature has targeted New
Orleans' immigration policies, including by passing a law threatening jail time
for law enforcement officials who delay or ignore federal enforcement efforts.
Another measure directs state agencies to verify, track and report anyone
illegally in the U.S. who is receiving state services, and one more bans city
policies that prohibit cooperation with federal immigration agencies.
"Their enforcement of laws is indiscriminate at best, corrupt at worst,"
said Republican state Sen. Jay Morris, who was behind the law punishing
obstruction of immigration enforcement. "Apparently we have to have a law to
tell people not to break the law."
The Orleans Parish Sheriff's office and the New Orleans Police Department
have been subject to longstanding federal oversight that barred them from
engaging in immigration enforcement.
The police oversight ended Wednesday, leaving officers in an uncertain legal
position if they receive conflicting directives from city and state leaders,
according to the city's Independent Police Monitor Stella Cziment.
Moreno, set to take office as mayor on Jan. 12, said the city's police will
follow state law, but that department policy viewed immigration enforcement as
a civil matter outside its jurisdiction. New Orleans Police Chief Anne
Kirkpatrick said department policies barring immigration enforcement "are not
in conflict" with state laws.
Kirkpatrick said she met with ICE officials this week and her department
will work with federal agents to ensure public safety.
"Our support is to make sure they are not going to get hurt and that our
community is not in danger," she said.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, backed by the Department of Justice,
has requested an end to federal oversight of the sheriff's office, saying it
impedes the state's ability to enforce immigration law.
The sheriff's office, which operates the city's jail, has a policy under
federal mandate to not hold people for ICE unless they have committed a serious
crime. Court filings show the U.S. government says that since 2022, the jail
has only complied with two of its 170 detainer requests. Sheriff-elect Michelle
Woodfork told AP she will comply with state law if federal oversight ends.
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