The Department of Homeland Security announced on Wednesday that it launched its long-anticipated law enforcement operation targeting undocumented immigrants in New Orleans.
The mission, titled “Operation Catahoula Crunch,” is part of the Trump administration’s broader agenda to restore “law and order.”
“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,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, said in a release.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The statement announcing the surge did not specify how long it would last, but earlier reporting from the Associated Press said the operation was expected to take two months and target 5,000 people. The operation is a culmination of months of President Donald Trump floating the idea of having a federal presence in the city, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the country.
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State officials in Louisiana had shown an openness to the Trump administration having a federal presence in the state. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who in September requested up to 1,000 National Guard troops to be sent to assist law enforcement, welcomed the immigration agents ahead of their arrival, despite significant local opposition and confusion.
“We do know that New Orleans is a place under which we’ve had illegal criminal activity, alien activity, in and around that city,” Landry said on Fox News in November. “Look, people around Louisiana want their communities to be safe, irrespective of whether it’s criminal or illegal. Aliens conducting violence or American citizens or Louisiana citizens. If you go out there and break the law, we’re gonna put you in jail.”
New Orleans’ Democratic mayor-elect, Helena Moreno, told WLL-TV in New Orleans in November that she had received little information regarding the nature and scope of the operation and said that many families across the city were frightened to leave their homes or send their children to school.
“I think there is concern all the way around. This is really not something that is a partisan issue,” Moreno said. “This is really a community issue, not having a real understanding of federal forces coming into a city and what exactly they’re going to be doing.”
Louisiana Democrat Rep. Troy Carter, who represents New Orleans, said in a social media post on Wednesday that the city does “not welcome occupation.”
“There is nothing cute or clever about ‘Swamp-Sweep’-style operations,” Carter said in a statement. “There is nothing funny about workers staying home because they fear being detained and disappeared into a system they do not understand.”
“If the administration wants to be a partner, then act like one; share the plan, respect local law, and work with us, not around us.”
In the days leading up to the operation’s launch, some local restaurants and businesses prepared by posting signs saying immigration officers weren’t welcome, while others decided to close completely. The New York Times reported that one family started sleeping in their restaurant for fear of being pulled over at night.
The Department of Justice included New Orleans on a list of “sanctuary cities” that have refused to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August.
Louisiana is the latest Republican state that the Trump administration has sent federal agents to, in what his administration has billed as an effort to reduce crime in American cities.
The administration’s efforts to use the federal forces to reduce crime have largely been directed at Democratic states.
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