Trump launches immigration crackdown in New Orleans

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 - U.S. immigration officials kicked off an operation in New Orleans to arrest immigrants in the U.S. illegally, federal officials said on Wednesday, making it the latest city to be targeted by President Donald Trump's crackdown.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the operation would target criminal offenders who had been released from local custody due to city policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

Trump, a Republican, has ordered such operations in Democratic-led cities across the U.S., including Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., in a bid to drive deportations to record levels.

The office of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the New Orleans Police Department.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, has supported federal immigration enforcement efforts, and did so again in a Wednesday interview with local radio. Landry's office did not respond to a request for comment. 

Residents and local officials in cities targeted by the immigration crackdown have pushed back, saying Border Patrol and ICE agents have swept in many people with no criminal record and have used heavy-handed tactics that endangered residents.

'NOT ALL OF US ARE CRIMINALS'

In one family-owned restaurant in New Orleans, a woman assembled makeshift beds, so family members could sleep there to avoid potentially being profiled by federal agents while traveling between home and work. 

The woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Abby, said her family came to the U.S. from Mexico two decades ago but that she and others have not been able to obtain legal status.

She said she worried that she could be arrested by immigration authorities and separated from her 10-year-old son, a U.S. citizen.

"Not all of us are criminals," she said. "We're hardworking people. We're people who get up early to achieve our goals and fight for our dreams."

New Orleans city council member Lesli Harris said the enforcement operation was causing fear and anxiety in the city, telling CNN that "what we're learning is that they are targeting people who are here legally … who are mothers of children, high school students.”

The operation in New Orleans was expected to run through the end of the year but its scope remains unclear.

DISPUTE OVER ASSISTING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

Last month a federal judge terminated a 2013 consent decree that had limited the ability of the New Orleans Police Department to assist federal immigration enforcement.

Still, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said in late November that the city would not enforce federal immigration law.

The U.S. Department of Justice labeled New Orleans a "sanctuary city" in a list published in August.

The action in New Orleans, with a population of around 384,000, follows a Border Patrol-led operation in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Last month a U.S. official told Reuters that Gregory Bovino, a U.S. Border Patrol official who has led Trump's crackdown in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, had plans to head to New Orleans. REUTERS