NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal immigration officers are pulling out of a Louisiana crackdown and heading to Minneapolis in an abrupt pivot from an operation that drew protests around New Orleans and aimed to make thousands of arrests, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The shift appeared to signal a wind-down of the Louisiana deployment that was dubbed “Catahoula Crunch” and began in December with the arrival of more than 200 officers. The operation had been expected to last into February and swiftly raised fears in immigrant communities.
The Trump administration has been surging thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers are taking part in what the Department of Homeland Security has called the biggest immigration enforcement operation ever.
The officers in Minneapolis have been met with demonstrations and anger after an ICE officer fatally shot a woman on Wednesday.
Documents obtained by the AP indicated that federal officers stationed in Louisiana were continuing to depart for Minneapolis late this week.
WWNO and WRKF reporters reached out to Department of Homeland Security sources to confirm the Associated Press report. The question was not directly answered, with a spokesperson giving the following statement: "Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country. We do not discuss future or potential operations."
Reporters also asked if immigration enforcement agents would return to the region at a later date, and received the same statement.
It was already unclear to what extent the operation was ongoing, as reports surfaced in mid-December that agents were briefly relocated to Chicago for “Operation Midway Blitz.” U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino was later seen back in the New Orleans area on Dec. 19.
Fewer sightings of federal agents have been reported in the weeks since, but this does not mean that an immigration enforcement presence in Louisiana has lapsed. There were agents present before the operations.
Maria Chiriboga, an associate immigration attorney at the Scott Law Firm, said that she’ll believe people are leaving when she sees it. She said she’s seen an uptick in immigration enforcement presence as of Friday (Jan. 9).
If the withdrawal does happen, however, it may be seen as a reprieve to people who have been afraid to leave their homes during the operation.
“(People) are hunkered down at home, they are not working, they are surviving out of whatever little savings they have and out of community members who are assisting with food donations or monetary donations,” Chiriboga said. “I have seen panic across our community, and it’s not just for themselves, saying, ‘Oh, they are going to detain me.’ It’s, ‘Oh, they’re going to detain me, and I’m not gonna be able to take care of my kids.”
Chiriboga said this is a fear tactic to try to get people to self-deport, which could hurt their chances of ever returning legally.
“Depending on a single individual's immigration history… that is going to affect whether or not they come back to the United States,” Chiriboga said.
At an unrelated press conference, New Orleans mayor-elect Helena Moreno said that her administration hasn’t been in contact with federal immigration officials. She also reiterated her concerns with the “lack of transparency” around the way the immigration raids were being conducted.
“ Of course, we wanna go after the most violent offenders. Of course, we wanna go after violent criminals, whether they're documented or undocumented,” she said. “But that's where the priority should be. Not going after peaceful neighbors, not going after people who are doing all they can just to provide for their families.”
In December, DHS deployed more than 200 federal officers to New Orleans to carry out a monthslong sweep in and around the city under Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, who was also the face of aggressive operations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina. Bovino has been seen in Minneapolis this past week.
“Catahoula Crunch” began with a target of 5,000 arrests, the AP first reported. The operation had resulted in about 370 arrests as of Dec. 18, according to DHS.
The operation heavily targeted the Hispanic enclave of Kenner just outside New Orleans, leading immigrant-run businesses to close down to protect customers and out of a fear of harassment.
Documents previously reviewed by AP showed the majority of people arrested in the Louisiana crackdown’s first days lacked criminal records and that authorities tracked online criticism and protests against the deployment.
Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry welcomed the crackdown. But New Orleans’ Democratic leaders called the 5,000-arrest target unrealistic and criticized videos that showed agents arresting or trying to detain residents, including a clip of a U.S. citizen being chased down the street by masked men near her house.
New Orleans' Democratic leaders have been more welcoming of a National Guard deployment that President Donald Trump authorized after Landry asked for help fighting crime. The troops arrived just before the New Year’s Day anniversary of a truck attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people.
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Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this report from Minneapolis.
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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
