NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal agents began hitting the streets of New Orleans on Wednesday in the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown across the U.S., looking to round up immigrants accused of violent crimes, a Homeland Security official said.
Masked agents patrolled a heavily Hispanic suburb in marked and unmarked vehicles, and a resident told The Associated Press he watched agents arresting men outside a home improvement store in New Orleans — a familiar scene that has played out in several major cities in recent months.
Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who led enforcement operations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Charlotte, North Carolina, met up Wednesday with agents assembling in a Home Depot parking lot.
There are more than 200 Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials working on the New Orleans operation, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The objective is to make as many arrests as possible over at least 60 days.
Homeland Security Department Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the New Orleans operation is targeting immigrants who were released after arrests for crimes such as home invasion, armed robbery and rape.