While New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago have all received significant attention when it comes to police use of surveillance technologies, the small city of New Orleans has for years been the laboratory for a sophisticated surveillance apparatus deployed by the city’s police department and other policing bodies. Just last year, New Orleans was in the news as the city considered setting a…
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It is performative bullying at best. Domestic terrorism at its core.
“Operation Catahoula Crunch,” President Donald Trump’s bloated immigration enforcement action in New Orleans, is named after Louisiana hunting dogs that roam swamps. The operation, led by CBP commander Greg Bovino, began prowling through neighborhoods in New Orleans on Dec. 3, 2025.
Filming, Production, and Post-Production: Michael Nigro
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:
My name’s Jose Castillo. We’re here in New Orleans. In my family business, it’s a little Norma Sweets Bakery. Been here since 2011. And this is the first time that we’ve been affected from our government really so much. I mean, people are afraid to go out, people are afraid to spend money. I have a family member, I have friends, American citizens walking around with a passport, American passport, because they’re afraid. Afraid that they’re going to be profiled. They’re afraid if they can’t speak English, good enough to explain who they are.
Speaker 2:
Children are skipping school because they’re afraid of ice. Parents are unable to go to the grocery store because they’re afraid of ice. Workers are losing their jobs and risking their businesses because they’re afraid of ice. And our city counselors haven’t even put ice on the agenda for their meeting today. City council must stop ignoring immigrant rights groups who are asking to take a stand. We’re not going to wait for city council to say that they’re going to do something. We
Speaker 3:
Are here today to demand that city council takes action. These people are planning to stay here
As immigrants in southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi braced for this month’s U.S. Homeland Security operation, Cristiane Rosales-Fajardo received a panicked phone call from a friend. The friend’s Guatemalan tenant, who didn’t know she was pregnant, had just delivered a premature baby in the New Orleans house. The parents lacked legal residency, and the mother refused to go to a hospital…
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When concerned residents of the New Orleans metro area stepped out into the streets with their whistles and phone cameras over the weekend, ready to protest and document the Trump administration’s unwelcome assault on immigrant communities, they faced both widespread digital surveillance by state and federal authorities and a vague state law that makes hindering federal immigration enforcement a…
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A major immigration crackdown is underway in New Orleans and the surrounding areas of Louisiana, dubbed “Operation Catahoula Crunch” by the Trump administration. According to planning documents, 250 federal agents will aim to make 5,000 arrests over two months. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the operation will target “the worst of the worst,” though the number of arrests being…
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Hundreds of U.S. Border Patrol agents are reportedly set to begin a major immigration crackdown across much of southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi this week as part of what has been dubbed operation “Swamp Sweep.” The planned action follows similar surges in Chicago (operation “Midway Blitz”) and Charlotte, North Carolina (operation “Charlotte’s Web”), where agents have been accused…
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