A Border Patrol-led immigration crackdown is coming to southeast Louisiana. Here’s what to know

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Around 250 federal border agents are expected to launch a monthslong immigration crackdown on Monday in southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi dubbed “Swamp Sweep.”

The deployment, which aims to arrest 5,000 people, is centered in liberal New Orleans and is the latest federal immigration enforcement operation to target a Democratic-run city as President Donald Trump’s administration pursues its mass deportation agenda.

Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who has led aggressive operations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina, is expected to helm the campaign.

Many in the greater New Orleans area, particularly in Latino communities, have been on edge since the planned operations were reported earlier this month, even as Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he welcomes the federal agents.

Here’s what to know about “Swamp Sweep.”

Border Patrol accused of aggressive tactics in blue cities

Bovino has become the Trump administration’s go-to operative for leading large-scale, high-profile immigration enforcement campaigns. During his operation in Chicago, federal agents rappelled from a helicopter into a residential apartment complex and fired pepper balls and tear gas at protesters.

While federal agents arrested more than 600 immigrants during a surge in Chicago in recent months, just a handful had criminal records representing a “high public safety risk,” according to federal government data.

Border Patrol, which does not typically operate in dense urban areas or in situations with protesters, has been accused of heavy-handed tactics, prompting several lawsuits. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Chicago accused Bovino of lying and rebuked him for deploying chemical irritants against protesters.

Bovino has doubled down on the efficacy of his agency’s operations.

“We’re finding and arresting illegal aliens, making these communities safer for the Americans who live there,” he said in a post on X.

Louisiana has strict immigration enforcement laws

The Department of Justice has accused New Orleans of undermining federal immigration enforcement and included it on a list of 18 so-called sanctuary cities. The city’s jail, which has been under longstanding oversight from a federal judge, does not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under most circumstances, and its police department views immigration enforcement as a civil matter outside its jurisdiction.

However, Louisiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature has passed laws to compel New Orleans agencies to align with the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration stance.

One such law makes it a crime to “knowingly” do something intended to “hinder, delay, prevent, or otherwise interfere with or thwart” federal immigration enforcement efforts. Anyone who violates the law could face fines and up to a year of jail time.

Additionally, lawmakers expanded the crime of malfeasance in office, which is punishable by up to 10 years in jail, for government officials who refuse to comply with requests from agencies like ICE. It also prohibits police and judges from releasing from their custody anyone who “illegally entered or unlawfully remained” in the U.S. without providing advance notice to ICE.

New Orleans awaits federal agents

In and around New Orleans, some immigration lawyers say they have been inundated with calls from people trying to prepare for the upcoming operation. One immigration lawyer, Miguel Elias, says his firm is conducting many consultations virtually or by telephone because people are too afraid to come in person.

He likens the steps many in the immigrant community are taking to what people do to prepare for a hurricane — hunker down or evacuate. Families are stocking up on groceries and making arrangements for friends to take their children to school to limit how frequently they leave the house, he said.

In the days leading up to Border Patrol’s planned operations, businesses have posted signs barring federal agents from entry and grassroots advocacy groups have offered rights-related trainings and workshops on documenting the planned crackdown.

While New Orleans is famous for its blend of cultures, only around 6.7% of its population of nearly 400,000 is foreign-born, though that rises to almost 10% in neighboring metro areas. That’s still well below the national average of 14.3%, according to U.S. census data.

The city’s Hispanic population ballooned during rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and now makes up around 14% of the population, according to census data compiled by New Orleans-based Data Center.

The Pew Research Center estimates 110,000 immigrants who lack permanent legal status were living in Louisiana as of 2023, comprising approximately 2.4% of the state’s population. Most of them are from Honduras.

Amanda Toups, who owns local restaurant Toups Meatery and runs a nonprofit to help feed neighbors in need, said she expects the federal operations to negatively impact the city’s tourism-dependent economy, which supports the rest of Louisiana.

“If you’re scaring off even 5% of tourism, that’s devastating,” she said. “You’re brown and walking around in town somewhere and you could get tackled by ICE and you’re an American citizen? Does that make you want to travel to New Orleans?”

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Santana reported from Washington, D.C. and Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.