Operation Catahoula Crunch
Following Border Patrol to New Orleans
Earlier this month, Border Patrol kicked off Operation Catahoula Crunch in Louisiana. The operation was delayed several days for unknown reasons; in what was perhaps a coincidence, the delay coincided with some heavy rain.
On day one, Commander Greg Bovino and the team assigned to him patrolled around downtown New Orleans, pausing for Bovino to take photos with the occasional fan that walked by.
Days after it started, a caravan of federal agents, including Bovino, pulled into an apartment complex in Kenner, Louisiana for what was ostensibly “targeted” enforcement.
By the time they arrived at the apartment complex, Bovino’s crew had amassed a following of protesters and journalists. As you can see in the footage below, the protesters grew as people came out of their homes — including one guy who immediately recognized Bovino. “It’s not Make America Great Again — y’all want it to be white again,” the guy said as he walked around Bovino’s SUV.
While we were there, Ford Fischer managed to get a video of Bovino’s cell phone as he was sending a text message. As it turns out, the trip wasn’t exactly targeted — Bovino texted that they were simply running plates. I wrote about the exchange for the Nation.
The cooperation with local police makes Louisiana unique. In Chicago and Charlotte, journalists (and protesters) could follow behind Border Patrol, even as they drove erratically in an attempt to thwart us. In Louisiana, state police would shut down the roads for Border Patrol to get away from press and activists.
DHS’s numbers in Louisiana have been quite low. In Chicago, it felt common to see masked men grab someone off the street while you were minding your own business; in Louisiana, you had to look — though apprehensions did happen.
Much of Border Patrol’s activity was in Kenner, which has the highest Hispanic population in the state. On Sunday December 7, activists organized a protest in the parking lot of a shopping plaza with a Burlington store, where BP had apprehended a man days before.
Even though Border Patrol’s presence isn’t as visible in Louisiana as it was in Illinois, it’s still on everyone’s minds. Attendance at schools has suffered, and multiple bartenders talked about being understaffed.
Early on in my trip, I went on Half the Answer podcast to talk about my experiences in DC, Chicago, Portland, and New Orleans. You can watch or listen to it here. I also wrote a bit about Broadview for the Nation.
Some extra housekeeping, unrelated to immigration - I recently appeared on Laura Flanders & Friends to talk about being stalked and harassed, which you can watch here or on PBS. I also recently broke a story about a pardoned J6er allegedly using the promise of $10 million in reparations to silence his child sexual abuse victim for The Intercept.
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