A DHS immigration enforcement operation dubbed "Operation Catahoula Crunch" began earlier this week in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a goal of 5,000 arrests over two months. (Scripps News)

New Orleans

Federal agents have initiated Operation Catahoula Crunch, a two-month immigration enforcement campaign in southeast Louisiana, with a focus on the Vietnamese community in New Orleans. The operation involves hundreds of agents and aims for 5,000 arrests, following similar actions in other U.S. cities.

Local residents, particularly those from the Vietnamese and Latino communities, have expressed fear and concern over the operation's impact. Community members, including longtime Vietnamese residents who arrived as refugees after the Vietnam War, say the enforcement is disrupting lives and causing distress, but also note efforts to support one another during this period.

DHS agents target the Vietnamese community in New Orleans

Right now, we are learning more about who those agents are focusing on in the New Orleans area, and they're focusing on the Vietnamese community. Scripps News National Correspondent, Katie Tubman, joining us live from New York, and she has been following this story for us. So, Katie, what more can you tell us about this immigration effort in New Orleans? Well, Stephanie, that effort has been dubbed by DHS Operation Catahoula Crunch, and it's where a two-month operation has commenced as of this week, with hundreds of agents on the ground and with a goal of 5,000 arrests across southeast Louisiana. Now, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who has led these operations in other cities, touched down in New Orleans earlier this week, and numerous videos have been posted on X of arrests that have been happening across the area, and agents have been seen at construction sites, home improvement stores, and in one instance, stopping workers in the middle of a roofing job in Kenner, Louisiana, just west of New Orleans. Now, this operation comes after similar sweeps in North Carolina, Chicago, Los Angeles, and it comes as a part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. And largely, these cities have been Democratic-led cities that have been identified by the federal government as sanctuary jurisdictions or sanctuary cities that have certain policies that restrict how well, how much local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration authorities. And they have been targeted, but New Orleans is a little bit different in that it's the first of these high-profile operations to happen in a Republican-led state. Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is from Louisiana, voiced his support of this operation, saying on X on Thursday, Democrats' sanctuary city policies have failed, making our American communities dangerous. The people of our great city deserve better, and help is now on the ground. Now, boots are definitely on the ground right now, and there's a lot of fear in the air. Local residents we spoke to told us that the communities there are on edge, particularly communities that have high populations of Latino residents, as well as Vietnamese residents. Specifically speaking to the Vietnamese population, many of the locals there say there's a significant amount of immigrants who are there, many of whom endured waves of displacement after the fall of Saigon in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War, and they made homes for themselves over the past half-century in New Orleans, and that is being disrupted. We spoke with one local resident who was part of that community, Thi Bui, who was born in the final days of the war, and came to the U.S. as a refugee at the age of three, and she lives in New Orleans, and she said that this feels like, this operation, a betrayal for a community that has been offered refuge for several, for many years, for decades, and has had deep roots in this community. Here's what Bui had to tell us. 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, and probably shouldn't have gotten involved in, but because the U.S. was there, now the refugees of that war have to come here, and 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. Now Bui told us that despite the dread, that it feels like it's at an all-time high, that community members are coming together to support one another, and make sure that they are told that this is their home, too. Stephanie? Scripps News National Correspondent Katia Tubman, live in New York for us this afternoon. Thank you so much for continuing to follow this story.

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