Guest Column: New Orleans area immigration sweeps are undoing years of bad policies
BY LAURA CANIZZARO RODRIGUE 5 hrs ago
While Mayor-elect Helena Moreno and the city council clutch pearls over masked federal agents and demand “transparency” during Operation Catahoula Crunch, the rest of us are wondering where this outrage was when violent criminals were terrorizing New Orleans.
Because right now, the only thing being “crunched” is the absurd notion that removing illegal aliens with criminal records is somehow the real problem in a city which was just named the most dangerous city in America with a $222 million budget deficit that no one saw coming.
Let’s get the facts straight. The Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Catahoula Crunch specifically to target criminal illegal aliens who were previously arrested, released and allowed to roam free. Despite the sob story you have been fed, these are people with rap sheets.
For those of us who have worked in the criminal justice system in New Orleans, the scripted cries for transparency by Moreno are falling on deaf ears.
Where was the demand for transparency when our distirct attorney and judges were releasing violent criminals who murdered our citizens and our tourists? Many of those offenders had multiple prior arrests at the time they committed murder and there was never One. Single. News conference.
And yes, crime in New Orleans is down in 2025 — but let’s not pretend the city is suddenly Mayberry. Orleans Parish still has one of the highest homicide rates of most large metropolitan cities in America. There were 4 separate shootings just on Saturday. We are on pace for roughly 140—150 murders this year, triple the national average and higher than cities twice our size.
Now let’s talk about money — because nothing exposes hypocrisy faster than following the tax dollars.
Louisiana is home to roughly 97,000—100,000 illegal immigrants. The Federation for American Immigration Reform calculates the net cost of illegal immigration nationally between $150-$200 billion annually. That’s around $1,212 for every legal American taxpayer every single year.
In New Orleans specifically, that burden falls hardest on a city already drowning in a $1.5 billion pension, insurance and infrastructure deficit. According to FAIR, every illegal household with U.S.-born children consumes an average of $30,000 —$55,000 more in public services than it pays in taxes — overwhelmingly in education and medical care. That’s money that doesn’t go to fix potholes, retain police officers or repair the Hard Rock site five years later.
When an illegal alien works off the books in construction or hospitality — industries that dominate New Orleans — they often pay zero federal income tax and little to no Social Security or Medicare. Yet they still drive on our roads, send their kids to our schools and show up at our emergency rooms — without insurance.
The citizens who play by the rules get stuck with the tab. Property taxes go up. Sales taxes go up. Fees go up. Services get cut. All so politicians can virtue-signal about “humanity” while ignoring the humanity of the working-class.
Helena Moreno’s five demands to Immigration and Customs Enforcement read like kindergarten classroom rules: uncover your face, give daily updates, promise due process (they already have it), don’t scare people, pretty please be nice.
Here’s a counter-demand from the taxpayers footing the bill: How about you demand that judges stop releasing murderers? How about you figure out how you missed a $222 million budget deficit after reviewing the budget for the past 8 years? How about you stop holding news conferences flanked by recycled politicians to incite violence?
Operation Catahoula Crunch isn’t “causing harm” to New Orleans. It’s repairing harm caused by decades of local leaders who care more about national media praise than the safety of their own constituents.
To every ICE and DHS agent walking the streets of New Orleans right now: Thank you. Thank you for doing your job despite the endless dramatized coverage of our media, the caravans of cars tailing you through the streets, blasting air horns and whistles, screaming at you, filming you.
Thank you for removing criminals and easing the crushing tax burden on citizens. Thank you for ignoring the loud minority that is fueled by media hysterics. Thank you for refusing to back down. Thank you, for doing your job. That’s something we aren’t used to in New Orleans.
