ICE and DHS blasted over enforcement tactics in New Orleans
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U.S. Chief Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino knocks on the door of a Kenner home on Dec. 6, 2025. Photo: Ryan Murphy/Getty Images
New Orleans leaders and congressional Democrats blasted the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics in a field hearing Monday aimed at recording testimony from a Department of Homeland Security operation in Southeast Louisiana.
The big picture: The hearing was scheduled before Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis during the weekend.
- In the days since, signs of fractures among Republicans — with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy among them — have appeared in their support of DHS' actions.
- House Democrats' calls to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem have also increased. Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), who requested the field hearing, is among dozens of cosponsors for that resolution.
- "Under her direction, DHS and ICE have systematically violated the rights and privacy of Americans, terrorized our cities and obstructed Congress," Carter said Monday.
Zoom in: New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and City Council President JP Morrell and local immigration advocates shared evidence on DHS' tactics in Louisiana with a four-person delegation of congressional Democrats, including Carter and led by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).
- No DHS officials were present.
What they said: "If Minneapolis is the tip of the spear, New Orleans is the hand — a blue city in a red state being used as a test case," Morrell said. "So goes New Orleans, so goes the South."
- Referencing a December call for transparency in the New Orleans-area operation, Moreno noted she never received a direct federal response to that request.
- "What we saw here, and now in much more severe fashion in Minneapolis, is no longer an issue of immigration, public safety or even politics," Moreno said. "This is a cruel, divisive agenda lacking humanity."
- Advocate leaders called on congressional leaders to create better ways to hold federal agents accountable for their actions, investigate DHS for human rights violations, restrict DHS funding, end immigration detention, close a 13th Amendment loophole allowing unpaid labor of incarcerated people, and even end ICE operations altogether.
Between the lines: Democrats have limited options to oppose the Trump administration's immigration strategies, but Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) was optimistic about the party's future.
- "When we take back the majority next year, we are going to do the job of reining in ICE, reining in this lawless administration and restoring the rights of the people," he said.
Catch up quick: Though all eyes were on Southeast Louisiana in early December for the start of a Border Patrol operation, DHS action in the region has slowed considerably. Carter noted it's impossible to tell if the local operation has ended because DHS has refused to share those details.
- About two weeks into the operation, DHS said it had arrested about 370 people, far fewer than the reported 5,000-person target.
- The AP reported Jan. 9 that some agents assigned to the Louisiana operation had been redirected to Minneapolis.
Worth noting: DHS did not immediately reply to a request for an updated Louisiana arrest count and operation status.