The Donald Trump administration launched a large-scale immigration crackdown on the 3rd in New Orleans, the largest city in the southern state of Louisiana and known as the “Home of Jazz.”
In a press release posted on its website that day, the Department of Homeland Security said, “Today, we launched a federal law enforcement operation in New Orleans,” adding, “The targets of the operation include violent criminals who were arrested and then released for charges such as home invasions, armed robberies, car thefts, and rapes.”
Authorities argued that the operation was being conducted because of local authorities’ “sanctuary policies” that “put undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes and released them, putting American communities at risk and putting law enforcement officers at risk.”
This appears to be a comment targeting the Democratic mayor of New Orleans. Mayor LaToya Cantrell, known for opposing the federal government’s immigration detention policy, urged residents last week to “remain calm and rely on reliable information,” Axios reported.
The Department of Homeland Security said, “It’s outrageous that we’re allowing these monsters to be released onto the streets of New Orleans to commit more crimes and cause more victims,” and claimed that “local authorities have ignored requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest and detain them.” The statement also released the names, photos, and criminal charges of 10 people targeted by the raid, including those from Honduras, Vietnam, and Jordan, along with the description “some of the worst, worst criminal illegal aliens on the streets of Louisiana. ”
The day before, President Trump announced plans to deploy the National Guard to New Orleans, saying, “(Louisiana Governor Jeff) Landry asked for it. A great governor asked us to help New Orleans.” The Louisiana governor is a Republican. Bloomberg News noted that previous raids in Charlotte, North Carolina, and other cities have sparked controversy by detaining a significant number of immigrants without criminal records.
The deployment of agents to grocery store parking lots, commercial districts, and gathering places for day laborers has raised concerns about due process violations. New Orleans, with a population of approximately 384,000, is the latest Democratic-led city to be targeted by President Trump’s mass deportation policy, Reuters reported.