BREAKING: DHS Unleashes “Operation Catahoula Crunch” on New Orleans, Igniting Fear, Politics and Pushback

A fresh immigration sweep hit New Orleans this week, and the city was already bracing for impact long before DHS made it official.

DHS rolled out “Operation Catahoula Crunch,” the newest in a growing line of Trump-era city crackdowns, complete with a public most-wanted board of 10 undocumented immigrants the agency claims were released because of “sanctuary” policies. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin delivered the administration’s preferred tone with a flourish, declaring, “It is asinine that these monsters were released back onto New Orleans streets to COMMIT MORE CRIMES and create more victims.” Subtlety is clearly not in the budget.

Across the city, immigrant families shuttered businesses, churches hung scripture-backed rebukes, and mutual-aid networks spun up rapid-response teams—some inspired by Chicago and L.A. organizers who’ve spent months trailing agents with cameras, whistles, and community muscle. But Louisiana lawmakers have preemptively tried to kneecap that tactic: a new state law criminalizes anything that might “hinder” immigration enforcement, putting even whistle-blowers on thin ice.

Local officials are split. Police say they won’t take part—civil enforcement isn’t their lane—but the state’s political leadership is rolling out the welcome mat. Gov. Jeff Landry can barely contain his enthusiasm, framing the operation as the cavalry arriving to save a “crime-ridden” New Orleans, even as local data continues to show crime falling. Meanwhile, Mayor-elect Helena Moreno—soon to be the city’s first Latina mayor—calls out the sweep for scooping up people “just trying to survive,” not the violent criminals DHS insists it’s targeting.

All of this unfolds as Louisiana cements its role in “Detention Alley,” now boasting the newly opened “Louisiana Lockup” inside Angola, a facility whose notorious civil-rights record was, astonishingly, cited by DHS leadership as a selling point. With Trump’s second-term immigration machine running hotter than ever—ramped-up arrests, mass detentions, defanged asylum, and a forest of executive orders—the New Orleans sweep feels less like a one-off and more like a template for the country.

Source: Washington Post

Editor: Nothing says “we’ve lost the plot” like bragging about choosing Angola because it’s infamous. When the sales pitch for a detention center amounts to “the horror is part of the charm,” maybe the problem isn’t sanctuary cities—it’s the people writing the press releases.