I dislike writing pregame posts but it’s my city’s turn in the MAGA barrel. The Border Patrol is arriving tomorrow for what they’re calling Operation Catahoula Crunch according to one source or the Swamp Sweep according to another.
The Border Patrol’s jurisdiction is dubious. New Orleans is roughly 110 miles from the Gulf Of Mexico: The Border Patrol has jurisdiction within 100 miles of the border or coastline. As we’ve seen in Chicago and Charlotte, the Trump regime doesn’t care about legality. They’re out to arrest 5,000 people. That’s an arrest quota, which may not be illegal, but it’s suspect as such quotas lead to abuses of power. Of course, Trump 2.0 is a running abuse of power as well as a sick running joke.
New Orleans isn’t the only target according to a piece in the Picayune:
Planning documents reviewed by The Associated Press show 250 Border Patrol agents are poised to focus on neighborhoods and commercial hubs throughout southeast Louisiana, the outlet reported Tuesday. The agents plan to fan out across a region stretching from New Orleans through Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes north to Baton Rouge and into Mississippi.
The revelations signal that the Trump administration has chosen the Crescent City for what has emerged as a signature piece of its anti-illegal immigration agenda: shock-and-awe raids in Democratic-led enclaves in which agents round up and detain hundreds of people, then move on to other locations.”
New Orleans is the only “Democratic-led enclave” listed. The other parishes voted for Trump but didn’t vote to be invaded by masked men. St. Tammany Parish is one of the reddest as well as richest areas in the Gret Stet. It’s clearly outside the Border Patrol’s jurisdiction. I’m surprised that rural and agrarian Tangipahoa Parish isn’t listed. There are migrant workers there doing jobs Americans won’t do. That’s what the xenophobes don’t understand about immigration. They also do not care.
In Jefferson Parish, Kenner is home to many Hispanics. The local police chief is salivating at the prospect of a crackdown:
Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley, whose agency works closely with ICE through the 287(g) partnership program, said Tuesday he has received no information about the operation. It’s unclear whether Border Patrol’s sweeps will remain within New Orleans or extend over the parish line into Jefferson, he said.
“The Kenner Police Department is ready to support (Border Patrol), whatever the mission might be,” said Conley, whose city has the highest concentration of Hispanic residents of any in Louisiana.”
They’re not even communicating with their allies in the region let alone New Orleans. Team MAGA figures that having the governor’s approval is enough. They’re not coming to cooperate; they’re coming to intimidate. That’s what these sweeps are all about: a show of force to scare the locals.
New Orleanians don’t scare easily. We’ve been through a lot in our history: Slavery, wars, segregation, plagues, fires, hurricanes, floods, oil spills, gang wars, terrorist attacks, bad mayors, and Mike Ditka’s tenure as Saints head coach. We’ll get through this abuse of power.
The Border Patrol’s initials evoke a past disaster: The 2010 BP oil spill. There was a lot of preening and posturing from right-wing politicians then and there will be now. It’s what they do.
As an American citizen and New Orleans resident, I object to this borderline illegal move against a city that doesn’t think of itself as a bordertown. It’s a disgrace but we’ve been through worse. Call us tough, call us fearless, call us anything but resilient.
Consistency is not MAGA’S strong suit. They claim that there’s a crisis on the border. If that’s true, why are Border Patrol agents coming to New Orleans instead of guarding the border?
Repeat after me: It’s not about crime or immigration, it’s about intimidation.
The last word goes to Flaco Jimenez and John Hiatt: