By Saleah Blancaflor
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration enforcement operation referred to as “Operation Catahoula Crunch” kicked off in New Orleans, La. at the beginning of December.
The operation, which is being led by Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, has a goal of 5,000 arrests over the next two months, KRTV Great Falls reported.
CBP has shared videos on social media with proof of the arrests. One video shows agents taking roofing workers from a job just outside of New Orleans in Kenner, La.
The decision to focus on New Orleans follows similar high-profile operations in other major cities like Chicago and Los Angeles. It aligns with President Donald J. Trump and his administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants, which they have been vocal about since Trump was appointed president.
Many of the operations have been held largely in Democrat-led states and those that identify as sanctuary states, per reports.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R), who is from Louisiana, was vocal about his supported the operation.
“Democrats’ sanctuary city policies have failed — making our American communities dangerous,” Johnson wrote on social media. “The people of our GREAT city deserve better, and help is now on the ground.”
Reports state that communities in New Orleans are nervous and on edge, while many businesses and streets become emptier in cities that contain Hispanic and Vietnamese residents.
Those in the Vietnamese communities have suffered from displacement to the United States after the end of the Vietnam war and the fall of Saigon in 1975.
31-year-old Thi Bui, born at the end of the war, previously came to New Orleans as a refugee at the age of 3.
Bui told KRTV Great Falls that the operation felt like a betrayal to the community that used to welcome refugees in the 1970s and used to be allies of the states.
“It’s been over 50 years that the Vietnamese have been in the U.S. and in New Orleans,” Bui told KRTV Great Falls. “They’ve raised families, opened businesses, become part of the culture, the fabric of this country. And now they’re getting ripped apart. Their families are getting torn apart. They are in a constant state of dread. And it’s really hard to live like that.”
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
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