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New Orleans is the next target for President Trump’s federal immigration crackdown, sources have told Reuters.
Border Patrol agents are expected to arrive in the city this weekend, with the operation running into January.
New Orleans will be the latest Democrat-run city to be targeted for a surge in immigration enforcement by the Trump administration.
Trump’s policy of surges began over the summer, first with deployments to Los Angeles and Washington DC, and then Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina. The deployments have seen large numbers of illegal immigrants arrested, but have also sparked serious unrest, including rioting around federal immigration facilities.
Federal agents have been rammed with cars and, in at least one incident, shot at.
Sources told Reuters the New Orleans deployment would be closely modelled on the operation in Charlotte, which was led by Border Patrol’s commander Gregory Bovino.
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said she welcomed the deployment, but added that her department would not take part in the operation.
Last week, it was revealed that immigration enforcement in Charlotte had caused 30,000 students to be absent from school, due to fears they and their families might be swept up for deportation.
That number equates to more than 20% of the total school population of 140,000.
Some elementary schools have reported that more than half of all students are missing.
