Federal Border Patrol agents are poised to in the New Orleans area, according to people familiar with the plans and local law enforcement officials, spurring anxiety among immigrants and blowback from some Democratic politicians.
Details, including the size of the Border Patrol deployment, where in the New Orleans area agents might operate and the timeline of their arrival, have not been finalized, according to multiple people briefed on the plans who requested anonymity because the operation has not been publicly announced.
Still, signs that the metro area could see an infusion of federal agents as soon as late this week spurred frenzied reaction in recent days from officials, advocates and immigration attorneys. One construction company owner has told Hispanic workers not to show up for work beginning on Friday for fear of immigration raids. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick is set to discuss the operation this week with Border Patrol officials.
"They're coming, so I am going to be a partner," Kirkpatrick said on WBOK Radio Tuesday, adding that her officers would not conduct immigration arrests or question people about their immigration status.
Planning documents reviewed by The Associated Press show 250 Border Patrol agents are poised to focus on neighborhoods and commercial hubs throughout southeast Louisiana, the outlet reported Tuesday. The agents plan to fan out across a region stretching from New Orleans through Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes north to Baton Rouge and into Mississippi.
The revelations signal that the Trump administration has chosen the Crescent City for what has emerged as a signature piece of its anti-illegal immigration agenda: shock-and-awe raids in Democratic-led enclaves in which agents round up and detain hundreds of people, then move on to other locations.
U.S. Border Patrol agents look on, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Matt Kelley
The administration in recent weeks sent Border Patrol agents to Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina — Democratic-led cities far afield of where the border-focused agency has historically operated.
Border Patrol agents, who operate under the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection arm, are known within federal law enforcement for using more aggressive tactics than their counterparts in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The administration sent agents to those cities, both with large Hispanic immigrant populations, amid demand to ratchet up deportation numbers.
The deployments in both cities have been met with protests. In Charlotte, where the Border Patrol arrived over the weekend, the agency arrested at least one American citizen.
“If Chicago and Charlotte are any example, they’re unlikely to be received particularly fondly by the population in New Orleans,” said Jeff Asher, a New Orleans-based crime analyst.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a prepared statement said the agency does not discuss “future or potential” operations.
"Every day, DHS enforces the laws of the nation across the country,” McLaughlin said.
Local officials in the dark
Local officials have received few details about the operation. Of more than a dozen officials in New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish, which has Louisiana’s highest concentration of Hispanic residents, none save for Kirkpatrick said they had communicated with Border Patrol about its plans.
New Orleans Mayor-Elect Helena Moreno, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee-Sheng, Kenner Mayor Michael Glaser and most members of the New Orleans and Jefferson Parish councils all said they have not been briefed on the plans. Some said they had learned of them through media reports.
“We absolutely should be involved in these conversations, or at least receive a briefing,” said state Rep. Matt Willard, an incoming at-large New Orleans City Council member. “(Residents) will reach out to us with questions and frustrations. Currently, all I can share with them is what has been reported by the media.”
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Moreno in a brief statement said she had received “no info” on the operation.
U.S. Border Patrol Commander at large Gregory Bovino, right, looks on as a detainee sits by a car, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley) ORG XMIT: NCMK112
Matt Kelley
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley, whose agency works closely with ICE through the 287(g) partnership program, said Tuesday he has received no information about the operation. It’s unclear whether Border Patrol’s sweeps will remain within New Orleans or extend over the parish line into Jefferson, he said.
“The Kenner Police Department is ready to support (Border Patrol), whatever the mission might be,” said Conley, whose city has the highest concentration of Hispanic residents of any in Louisiana.
Kirkpatrick said her agency will "collaborate" with any federal agency that operates in the city. But she emphasized that she had "no control over whether Border Patrol will be here."
An NOPD spokesperson confirmed that Kirkpatrick has a meeting scheduled for this week with Border Patrol officials but declined to provide further details about the meeting. Kirkpatrick noted that most immigration-related offenses are civil, rather than criminal.
"To be in our country undocumented is illegal," she said. "To be illegal is not criminal — this is civil. Sometimes we use illegal, and we assume (that's) criminal... police officers are not going to be asking anyone their national or immigration status."
Controversial operations
Led by a hard-charging Border Patrol official named Capt. Gregory Bovino, the agency’s recent operations in Chicago and Charlotte yielded hundreds of detentions and blowback from some local officials over the agents’ tactics.
Border Patrol was thrust into national headlines by its Chicago operation. The agency faced accusations there of draconian tactics, including agents rappelling from helicopters into a housing complex. Dozens of people were arrested but ultimately never accused of crimes,
The operation launched in Charlotte this weekend netted at least 130 arrests through Sunday, according to DHS officials. More than 20,000 students were absent from Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools Monday amid fears over immigration raids, The same day, DHS officials said agents arrested a man accused of ramming a Border Patrol vehicle during an immigration sweep.
While it's unclear how long that operation — dubbed "Charlotte's Web" — will last, ABC News reported that the agency could shift its presence to New Orleans as soon as this weekend.
Conflicting reports say the operation in New Orleans could be called “Swamp Sweep,” which the AP reported, or “Catahoula Crunch,” which CBS News reported.
New Orleans presents an attractive destination for the administration’s crackdown, in part because it is a Democratic city in a Republican-led state. Republican state leaders, including Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill, have vocally supported Trump’s immigration agenda, including the proposed Border Patrol operation.
Preparations have rippled across the city in recent days.
Jose, a Mexican-born construction company owner in the New Orleans area who asked to be identified only by his first name because he is in the process of applying for a green card and fears retaliation, said he has instructed his 40 Hispanic workers to stay home beginning on Friday.
Fear has gripped New Orleans-area immigrant communities since federal authorities ramped up immigration enforcement in recent months. Chatter about the impending Border Patrol operations took the anxiety to a new level among his workers, Jose said.
“Now everything is completely different,” said the 22-year New Orleans resident.
Rachel Taber, an advocate and organizer with New Orleans-based immigrant advocacy group Union Migrante, said immigrants and their family members are contacting lawyers, giving people power-of-attorney in case they are detained and locating passports in the event they need to travel to reunite with family members.
While ICE oversees immigration detention sites and deportation operations, Border Patrol agents have been active in Louisiana since Trump took office. In some cases, they have monitored homes and vehicles of people accused of reentering the country after having already been deported. The agents then detained the people following traffic stops, according to multiple affidavits filed in federal court.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation have also been redirected to immigration-related duties in the New Orleans region. FBI offices are named as operation bases for the forthcoming operation in planning documents reviewed by the AP, the outlet reported.
An FBI spokesperson did not respond Tuesday to questions about the operation.