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The mayor-elect of New Orleans said Friday that there is federal immigration The raid was launched this week is already causing harm as encounters between masked agents and residents, some of which were captured on video, have sparked public backlash.
Frustrated city officials pointed to the case of Jacelynn Guzman, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was returning to her home in Louisiana from a grocery store on Wednesday when a truck pulled up next to her and two masked federal agents approached her, according to security footage obtained by The Associated Press.
Guzman began to flee when a second vehicle arrived and officers chased her down the sidewalk until she reached her family’s home in Marrero, a neighborhood across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans. Guzman’s mother has lived there her entire life.
“We’re legal, we’re from here, born and raised,” Guzman yelled at the agents. “Don’t chase me, it’s disgusting.”
Several hundred agents under Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino converged on southeastern Louisiana this week to arrest 5,000 people as part of an immigration raid. The Department of Homeland Security has announced dozens of arrests and released few details. Many Hispanic residents have said they feel there is a risk of mistreatment or imprisonment by agents in their community, regardless of their legal status.
Alongside City Council members, Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, Hispanic leaders and civil rights activists, Mayor-elect Helena Moreno expressed “deep concern about recent actions” by federal agents. She said the operation was causing harm — forcing businesses to close and workers to stay home for fear of mass arrests.
While federal officials have repeatedly stated that the goal of the operation is to target dangerous criminals who have entered the country illegally, Moreno argued, “that does not appear to be the case.”
Moreno said she is calling for regular public briefings from federal authorities that should include data on stops, detentions, charges, warrants, outcomes and whether any of the people detained have a violent criminal history.
“Without this full insight into these enforcement actions, it is impossible to determine whether this particular operation is actually targeting the most dangerous offenders,” Moreno said.
Guzman’s stepfather, Juan Anglin, said he understood federal agents had a job to do, but believed they were going about it the wrong way.
Anglin heard his stepdaughter screaming outside and went outside to confront the agents. He said she fled from the agents because she was a young woman surrounded by aggressive masked men.
“Honestly, I thought she was going to get kidnapped,” Anglin said. “I thought someone was going to hurt her.”
In response, the Department of Homeland Security said that the Border Patrol was searching for a “criminal illegal alien” “who has previously been charged with theft and convicted of illegal possession of stolen property.”
DHS said agents “encountered a woman who matched the description of the target” and that agents identified themselves and left when they realized Guzman was not the person they were looking for.
Anglin disputes the government’s narrative and says she was only stopped because of her appearance.
“Just because you look brown, because you look Hispanic, you get stopped,” he said. “Because now it doesn’t matter whether you have papers, speak English or are a citizen, that’s not enough.”
