This story was originally published by Verite News
A stepped-up immigration enforcement operation in and around New Orleans, first reported by the Associated Press last month, launched Wednesday morning (Dec. 3), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced today.
Dubbed operation “Catahoula Crunch,” the department press release did not provide any details on the planned scope of the operation. But according to internal plans reviewed by the AP, which reported the name of the operation as “Swamp Sweep,” the Trump administration plans to deploy 250 Border Patrol agents to the region, with a goal of arresting 5,000 people in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Three people standing in the parking lot of Lowe’s Home Improvement on Elysian Fields Avenue said several people were detained at about 10:30 a.m. by agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The witnesses pointed to a row of more than five trucks parked in a neighboring gas station. Those belonged to the people taken into custody, they said.
One witness said the agents focused on those day laborers who attempted to flee the scene. CBP did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the raid and to confirm the number of people detained.
Israel Puin, who works in construction, arrived at Lowe’s shortly after the raid. He said many of his friends are too afraid to come out looking for work, and that the border patrol operation will hurt the Louisiana residents who need help fixing their homes.
“People are very afraid,” Puin said. “If the Spanish people are not here, who is going to do the job? And this is not for today, not for tomorrow, not for this week, this is supposed to be for the rest of the month? Two months?”
Catahoula Crunch follows similar operations in Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina, where Border Patrol agents were accused of using overly aggressive tactics — including dangerous maneuvers during vehicle chases and the deployment of crowd control projectiles — against both those suspected of being in the country illegally and those protesting the enforcement action. In both cities, agents have also been accused of racial profiling.
The DHS press release says the operation will target “criminal aliens,” highlighting a small number of cases of area residents suspected of being in the country illegally who have criminal records.
The press release says those people were released from local custody as a result of the so-called “sanctuary” policy adopted by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office more than a decade ago.
The policy, which state Attorney General Liz Murrill has recently fought to dissolve, prohibits the Sheriff’s Office from honoring detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Such requests, if honored, allow local jails to hold arrestees up to 48 hours past their release date in order to allow ICE to bring them into its custody. The Sheriff’s Office policy was adopted in 2013 to settle a federal lawsuit. The plaintiffs in that suit, arrested in New Orleans on minor charges, were held for months under ICE detainer requests.
“Sanctuary policies endanger American communities by releasing illegal criminal aliens and forcing DHS law enforcement to risk their lives to remove criminal illegal aliens that should have never been put back on the streets,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.
Though DHS has repeatedly claimed it is targeting criminals, a large number of people with no criminal records have been swept up in earlier operations. In Chicago, for example, of 4,000 people arrested as part of operation “Midway Blitz,” only about 120 have been identified as having a criminal record, The Washington Post reported. Agents have also reportedly arrested a number of American citizens.
The news of the operation has been met with mixed reviews from local and state officials. Conservative Trump allies such as Murrill and Gov. Jeff Landry have come out in strongly in support, while New Orleans Councilmember and Mayor-elect Helena Moreno and fellow Councilmember JP Morrell have pointed to allegations of abuse by Border Patrol agents in other cities recently subjected to stepped-up immigration deployments.
Moreno recently released a brief “know-your-rights” guide for those stopped by federal immigration enforcement agents, along with a list of legal resources.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick has been more restrained in her response to the deployment, saying that the department would act as a “partner,” providing assistance to federal immigration agencies when needed for public safety, but at the same time pledging that NOPD officers would not be directly involved in immigration investigations or arrests. Other local, such as the Kenner Police Department — located in the city with the highest concentration of Hispanic residents in the region — have already been working with immigration enforcement agencies.
Asked Wednesday about Catahoula Crunch and how the operation would impact local policing, an NOPD spokesperson referred Verite News to DHS. “There are no updates from NOPD,” the spokesperson said.
The news of the impending sweeps has rattled the region’s immigrant communities. Some businesses have closed in an effort to protect workers and customers, and once-busy gathering spots for immigrant day laborers looking for work were largely abandoned in recent days.
Katie Jane Fernelius contributed to this story.