Congressman Troy Carter is sounding the alarm over a large-scale federal operation that he says would place New Orleans and surrounding parishes under an unnecessary and dangerous show of force. In a statement delivered during a shadow hearing in Washington on Thursday, Carter warned that the planned deployment of up to 250 Border Patrol agents across southeast Louisiana amounts to “occupation,” not public safety.
The operation, which federal officials have internally referred to with nicknames like “Swamp Sweep” and “Catahoula Crunch,” would involve sweeping actions across New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, St. Bernard Parish, St. Tammany Parish, and potentially as far north as Baton Rouge and into Mississippi. According to Carter, local leaders were given little to no notice about the mission, and even less clarity about its scope or rules of engagement.
“New Orleans welcomes partnership. We do not welcome occupation,” Carter said. “What is being planned for our region is not real public safety. It is a political stunt wrapped in badges and guns.”
Carter emphasized that most immigration violations are civil, not criminal, and argued that deploying federal agents unfamiliar with Louisiana law or the communities they are entering risks escalating encounters rather than resolving them. He pointed to recent examples in other cities, where similar raids resulted in widespread fear, school absences, and the wrongful arrest of at least one U.S. citizen.
“These are militarized federal agents who are not trained in our municipal laws, not trained in de-escalation, and do not know our people,” Carter said. “That is a recipe for fear, confusion and mistakes.”
Local Advocates Prepare for Friday Rally
Carter’s comments land just one day before New Orleans immigrant-rights groups and civil liberties organizations are set to rally against the planned operation. As Big Easy Magazine reported earlier, the event will bring together organizers from across the region to protest the expansion of federal immigration enforcement in the city and call attention to what they describe as harmful and terrorizing tactics used by ICE and Border Patrol.
That rally is expected to draw families, faith leaders, service-providers, and legal advocates who fear the operation could lead to wrongful detentions, racial profiling, and serious harm to mixed-status immigrant families living and working in New Orleans.
Carter’s statement echoes many of those community concerns. He noted that in Charlotte, 20,000 children stayed home from school during a similar federal sweep because families were afraid to leave their homes. In Chicago, residents reported helicopters circling neighborhoods and tactics, Carter said, that “looked more like a war zone than a neighborhood.”
“Help Us — But Not This Way”
Carter argued that if the federal government wants to support public safety in New Orleans, there are meaningful and effective ways to do so: assisting with police recruitment, investing in modern technology, strengthening mental-health response programs, and improving transparency and coordination between federal and local agencies.
“But not like this,” he said. “You do not build trust by dropping in armed agents who answer to Washington. You do not build safety by driving families into the shadows, emptying workplaces and classrooms, and creating an atmosphere where people are afraid to call the police when they are victims or witnesses of crime.”
Carter, whose district includes New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, St. Bernard Parish, and the River Parishes, ended his statement with a direct message to the administration.
“Our city is not a backdrop for political theater. Our people are not props,” he said. “Help us. But not this way.”
