Protests disrupt City Council as ICE crackdown continues
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New Orleans Police officers carry a protester out of City Hall after disruptions during a Dec. 4 City Council meeting. Photo: Ryan Murphy/Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security's immigration crackdown continued in the New Orleans metro on Thursday.
The latest: Protests disrupted New Orleans City Council proceedings as law enforcement agents were spotted around the metro.
- About 30 people were removed from City Hall as a result, The Times-Picayune reports.
- The demonstrators' signs protested collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. City Council members have spoken out against DHS's actions, and New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick has said her department won't assist in the crackdown because immigration is a civil rather than a criminal issue.
- A federal judge declined Thursday to pause a state law banning interference with immigration enforcement, according to Attorney General Liz Murrill's office. The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the 2024 law, and another hearing is expected next week.
Between the lines: DHS officials have denied repeated requests from Axios to comment on details such as an operational timeline and regional scope, arrest goals, and the total number of agents involved in the New Orleans blitz.
- Both Border Patrol and ICE are under DHS purview, though Border Patrol is leading the operation, a spokesman tells Axios New Orleans.
Zoom in: Though DHS has not yet shared the total number of people its agents have detained locally, a press release Thursday said agents have made "dozens of arrests," including a handful it highlighted for having criminal backgrounds.
- Rachel Taber with immigration advocacy group Union Migrante is aware of at least three U.S. citizens who were arrested by federal agents, temporarily detained and ultimately released after questioning. "They're traumatized," she tells Axios New Orleans.
- DHS officials this week said agents are targeting criminals who were once in law enforcement custody but were released as a result of New Orleans' "sanctuary"-like policies.
Reality check: The first person DHS verified had been arrested locally was previously convicted of sexual assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes, DHS says.
- But that person, who was out on parole, was prosecuted by Texas authorities, according to public records.
📖 Worthy of your time: Here's a quick look at some of the local and national updates on the crackdown that you may have missed.
- Border Patrol chief agent Gregory Bovino told CBS News on Wednesday that DHS agents had already detained "a lot" of people and were "still counting." Bovino, who has led similar crackdowns in other cities and once led the Border Patrol's New Orleans office, said that his team included "several hundred agents spread across the New Orleans area" and that Border Patrol would remain until "the mission's accomplished."
- Some immigrants are choosing to hide, in some cases sleeping overnight in their businesses to avoid any extra time on local streets. The New York Times spoke with people in Kenner, where the police department has a track record of working with ICE enforcement.
- But simply staying home shouldn't be interpreted as proof of someone's immigration status, according to restaurant professionals, who told The Times-Picayune's Ian McNulty they are seeing temporary closures and staff shortages. Hispanic hospitality businesses in particular are feeling the economic impact of decreased business.
As for protest actions, ACLU Louisiana and other activist organizations have collected under a banner they're calling "Free the Swamp" to organize resistance to the enforcement.