{"id":192823,"date":"2025-12-08T02:39:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T02:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/in-new-orleans-a-sanctuary-citys-policies-are-being-tested-in-a-state-that-supports-immigration-enforcement-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T02:39:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T02:39:22","slug":"in-new-orleans-a-sanctuary-citys-policies-are-being-tested-in-a-state-that-supports-immigration-enforcement-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/in-new-orleans-a-sanctuary-citys-policies-are-being-tested-in-a-state-that-supports-immigration-enforcement-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"In New Orleans, a sanctuary city's policies are being tested in a state that supports immigration enforcement – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

news Alerts
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The immigration enforcement operation launched Wednesday<\/a> in Louisiana is pitting New Orleans\u2019 sanctuary city policies against state laws favored by Republican lawmakers.
Officials in New Orleans have expressed an unwillingness to aid the operation in a city rich with diversity. But unlike states like California<\/a> and Illinois,<\/a> where Democratic governors and lawmakers opposed to President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration policies have pushed back, Louisiana\u2019s top officials welcome federal intervention.
\u201cLouisiana will not be a refuge for violent offenders. We stand with our federal partners and the law enforcement officers who protect our people every day,\u201d Gov. Jeff Landry said in a social media post<\/a> Wednesday. \u201cThank you to President [Donald Trump] and [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem] for ensuring Louisiana has the resources and coordination needed to keep our citizens safe.\u201d
\u201cOperation Catahoula Crunch,\u201d the name given by the Department of Homeland Security to immigration enforcement efforts in Louisiana, is the latest in a series of escalations unfolding in Democratic-led cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and, most recently, Minneapolis. It is unfolding, in part, at the behest of Landry, who has said an enforcement crackdown is key to fighting crime \u2014 even as police data shows violent crime, such as nonfatal shootings, burglary and assault, is on a downward trend in New Orleans.
The city is on pace to have its lowest number of homicides in nearly 50 years, according to the New Orleans Police Department. As of early November, there have been 97 reported murders in 2025 compared to 124 in 2024<\/a>.
Local leaders have decried the enforcement escalation, calling it unnecessary and harmful.
\u201cThe announcement of Operation Catahoula Crunch has caused significant alarm in our city and created a culture of fear among our most vulnerable residents,\u201d New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said in a statement.
But New Orleans officials have little recourse to resist federal enforcement. Landry has steadily steered state immigration policy toward the right and signed legislation aimed at strengthening ties between the state and federal officials.
In May, Landry issued an executive order directing state law enforcement agencies to help in federal immigration operations. This included encouraging local departments to sign on to DHS\u2019 287(g) program<\/a>, which allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to delegate to local and state agencies its power to enforce federal laws.
More than 20 parishes have signed agreements<\/a> with federal immigration officials, including Jefferson Parish, which is home to the largest Latino population in the state and is adjacent to Orleans Parish. Hispanic people comprise some 30% of residents in the city of Kenner, where Police Chief Keith Conley has said<\/a> he welcomes federal agents.
On Saturday, Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander overseeing the Louisiana sweep, applauded Landry and Kenner police for helping federal agents.
\u201cMassive support. THIS is America,\u201d he posted on X<\/a>.
Landry also created an expedited \u201calien removal\u201d<\/a> process to speed up and assist in the deportation of prison inmates found to be in the U.S. illegally.
The policies mirror similar efforts in other Republican-led states, like Oklahoma and South Dakota, but conflict with local policies in New Orleans, which is a sanctuary city and limits cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
In 2016, the New Orleans Police Department adopted a policy that prohibits officers from assisting federal immigration authorities except in limited instances, like a threat to public life or safety and when services are needed to execute a court-issued warrant.
The policy stems from a 2013 federal consent decree intended to address a history of corruption and unconstitutional practices, including racial profiling, within NOPD.
On Nov. 19, less than two weeks before immigration officials deployed agents to New Orleans, a federal judge ended the consent decree at the request of city leaders and the U.S Department of Justice.
At the time, police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said her department had \u201cgraduated\u201d from federal oversight after years of implementing reforms addressing racial profiling.
\u201cOur support is to make sure they are not going to get hurt and our community is not in danger,\u201d she told reporters, referring to New Orleans\u2019 immigrant community. Kirkpatrick added that immigration is a civil issue and that her department would not enforce civil laws.
On Friday, state Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Trump loyalist, issued a letter to Kirkpatrick<\/a> encouraging her to direct officers to \u201cfully cooperate\u201d with agents from ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
\u201cICE and CBP are our law enforcement partners in New Orleans and across Louisiana, where public safety is our collective mission,\u201d Murrill\u2019s letter read in part. \u201cExtremists have targeted ICE and CBP officers with threats of violence that have been carried out in other jurisdictions, and it is important that all law enforcement, including the NOPD, oppose such violence and uphold and enforce the rule of law.\u201d
Murrill\u2019s letter cited a state law that makes it a felony for municipal employees to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agencies, and also referred to a federal law<\/a> that prohibits a person from knowingly concealing or shielding from detection someone who is in the country illegally.
Murrill is also embroiled in a legal battle with the Orleans Parish Sheriff\u2019s Office, which operates city jails. It remains under a consent decree that has been in place since 2013 when the department settled a federal case involving two immigrants who were held in jail after their sentences were completed.
Murrill has asked a federal judge to strike down the sheriff\u2019s department policy prohibiting jails from holding immigration detainees. Hearings are ongoing, according to the attorney general\u2019s office.
\u201cWhile it is under review, it is still important to remember that nothing in the consent decree permits obstructing or interfering with ICE and federal immigration enforcement,\u201d Murrill said in a statement to NBC News.
Immigration advocates in New Orleans say they understand the conflict between state and local policies, but want to see city officials take a stronger stance against Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement tactics.
\u201cThey don\u2019t want to be the nail that sticks out and gets hammered,\u201d organizer Rachel Taber with Union Migrante, an immigrant advocacy group, said of New Orleans leadership.
Taber has seen immigrant communities shrink into the shadows as the recent operation has gotten underway. Parents are keeping their children home from school, businesses are closing and employees are not reporting to work.
\u201cIt feels a lot like a storm where people have to stay inside and not go out,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s heartbreaking because it\u2019s a storm that\u2019s only affecting a third of the population and other people may not even be aware of it.\u201d
So far, \u201cdozens\u201d have been arrested in the first few days of enforcement, representing a small fraction of the 5,000 people the administration aims to arrest, according to DHS.
Last week, a New Orleans City Council meeting devolved into shouts and shoves as law enforcement officers forcibly removed a small group of anti-ICE protesters.
Dozens of demonstrators called for city leaders to adopt \u201cICE-free\u201d zones similar to those established in Chicago earlier this year. The Chicago executive order, signed into law in October by Mayor Brandon Johnson, limits federal access to municipally owned properties, such as parking lots and garages, for immigration enforcement activities.
New Orleans City Council member JP Morrell told reporters<\/a> that city officials \u201care doing everything possible under the law to make it as difficult as possible for ICE to operate here.\u201d
Speaking after the meeting<\/a>, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said New Orleans \u201cstands in solidarity with every resident within our community in making sure they know their rights.\u201d
\u201cThey feel safe, and we\u2019re going to continue to ensure that,\u201d she continued.
But not all immigrants do feel safe, said New Orleans resident Alfredo Salazar. He has lived in the United States for nearly three decades and is a naturalized citizen.
About two months ago, before enforcement efforts ramped up, Salazar said he was stopped by federal immigration agents outside a Home Depot. He was briefly questioned in the back of a car and released a few minutes later, after showing documentation, Salazar said.
He said he remains shaken by the experience.
\u201cIt\u2019s a crime to be a Latino right now in New Orleans,\u201d he said. \u201cI can be arrested just because of my face.\u201d
Alicia Victoria Lozano is a California-based reporter for NBC News focusing on climate change, wildfires and the changing politics of drug laws.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeThe immigration enforcement operation launched Wednesday in Louisiana is pitting New Orleans\u2019 sanctuary city policies against state laws favored by Republican lawmakers.Officials in New Orleans have expressed an unwillingness to aid the operation in a city rich with diversity. But unlike states like California and Illinois, where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":192824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-192823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}