Kenner, Louisiana:DHS agents target the Vietnamese community in New Orleans
Customs and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino walks with border patrol agents through a neighborhood during an immigration crackdown, in Kenner, La., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert/AP)
A DHS immigration-enforcement initiative called “Operation Catahoula Crunch” kicked off earlier this week in New Orleans, Louisiana, with the aim of making 5,000 arrests over a two-month period.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said its Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who is heading the operation, arrived in the city at the start of the week. CBP has shared footage on social media showing agents conducting arrests — including a video in which agents pull roofers off a job site in Kenner, Louisiana, west of New Orleans.
The increased focus on New Orleans follows earlier, high-profile enforcement actions in major cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles — part of President Trump’s broader crackdown on unauthorized immigration. Many of those targeted are believed to be living in areas governed by local administrations that the federal government classifies as “sanctuary jurisdictions.”
Mike Johnson — Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a Louisiana native — voiced his approval of the operation on Thursday. “Democrats’ sanctuary city policies have failed — making our American communities dangerous,” he wrote. “The people of our GREAT city deserve better, and help is now on the ground.”
On the ground, the operation has stirred tension. In neighborhoods with large Hispanic and Vietnamese populations, streets and businesses reportedly remain largely deserted. For many Vietnamese-American residents, the crackdown has struck deeply. Some are descendants of those who fled to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon in 1975; over half a century, they have built lives, raised families, opened businesses — and become part of the social fabric of New Orleans.
One such resident, Thi Bui, arrived in the U.S. as a refugee at age three. She told Scripps News the enforcement effort feels like a betrayal to a community that sought refuge here decades ago. “The folks who came here in the ’70s were allies of the U.S. in a proxy war that the U.S. got involved in,” she said. “They rebuilt their lives from scratch, and now this is their home. It’s been over 50 years that the Vietnamese have been in the U.S. and in New Orleans. They’ve raised families, opened businesses, become part of the culture, the fabric of this country. And now they’re getting ripped apart. Their families are getting torn apart. They are in a constant state of dread. And it’s really hard to live like that.”
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