Overview
- DHS said the first 24 hours of Operation Catahoula Crunch led to detentions that include people it alleges have prior convictions for homicide, sexual assault and kidnapping, though it did not release a total arrest count.
- Roughly 250 Border Patrol agents are deployed across the New Orleans metro for a months‑long push that officials and local reports describe as targeting up to 5,000 arrests extending into Mississippi.
- Videos and eyewitness accounts show aggressive encounters at worksites and public places, including agents pointing guns at construction workers on a roof and briefly detaining people who later asserted U.S. citizenship.
- Businesses shuttered, school absences spiked and advocacy groups set up legal hotlines as the City Council opened a portal to report alleged abuses during the operation.
- Gov. Jeff Landry and other Republicans voiced support, while protesters disrupted a New Orleans City Council meeting as the FBI and Louisiana State Police warned they will pursue cases involving assaults on officers or obstruction.