US launches immigration crackdown in New Orleans, targeting ‘violent criminals’

US federal authorities launched a law enforcement operation in New Orleans on Wednesday aimed at individuals living in the city without legal status, the Department of Homeland Security announced as the Trump administration presses ahead with its immigration crackdown across multiple cities.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the operation’s “targets include violent criminals who were released after being arrested for home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto and rape.”

The exact scale of the New Orleans effort remains unclear, although earlier plans indicated it was expected to continue until the end of the year, with activity slowing down during Christmas.

President Donald Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the National Guard would be deployed to the southern city in a couple of weeks.

New Orleans, with a population of around 384,000, would be the latest city with a Democratic mayor targeted in Trump’s mass deportation push.

Since the summer, federal immigration officials have surged resources to Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., sparking criticism over aggressive tactics and arrests of people who had not committed a crime.

The action in New Orleans follows an operation in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Twenty years ago, New Orleans relied on thousands of Latino workers who helped rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. But it has not escaped the escalating tensions over immigration.

Louisiana Gov. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has singled out crimes in which the suspect’s immigration status is in question, such as the killing of a French Quarter tour guide by a group that included a Honduran man who entered the country illegally.

The Trump administration also has taken aim at the city’s immigration policies.

“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,” McLaughlin said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has accused New Orleans of undermining federal immigration enforcement. The Department of Justice includes New Orleans in a list of 18 cities it considers to be providing sanctuary to immigrants without legal status.

New Orleans officials deny the city’s policies thwart federal immigration enforcement. City police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has said she considers immigration enforcement to be a civil matter outside her jurisdiction.

Louisiana has been preparing for weeks for an immigration crackdown. The governor, a close Trump ally who has moved to align state policy with the White House’s enforcement agenda, said Wednesday that the crackdown will target the “worst of the worst, criminal illegal aliens that have broken the law.”“It started today and it’s going to run until we get them all off the street,” Landry said during an interview on the Walton & Johnson radio show.

In addition to the deployment of federal immigration agents, Landry said he expects National Guard members to arrive in New Orleans before Christmas to join the efforts to combat crime. The operational planning documents show border agents were expected to launch a monthslong crackdown in southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi.

The deployment, which aims to arrest 5,000 people, was expected to be led by Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who has led aggressive operations in other cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.

In and around New Orleans, some immigration lawyers said before the operation began that they have been inundated with calls from people trying to prepare for the operation, and some businesses posted signs barring federal agents from entry.

Louisiana State Police troopers and local FBI agents will work together to protect federal officers and stop attempts to block law enforcement actions during the crackdown, both agencies announced.

With inputs from agencies