Louisiana’s top criminal justice official has warned New Orleans’ police chief she risks breaking state and federal laws if her officers don’t actively support ongoing federal immigration enforcement efforts in the city.
Attorney General Liz Murrill sent a letter Friday to NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick saying the department’s policies “conflict with current state law and also may be interpreted as ‘sanctuary’ policies.” (Read the letter below)
The letter comes as hundreds of agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have converged on New Orleans and the surrounding area for what the Department of Homeland Security has labeled Operation Catahoula Crunch. The Trump administration has said the campaign, similar to those elsewhere in the country, targets the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
Federal officials have so far identified fewer than 10 people detained in its New Orleans-area sting as having criminal records, and it has not reported how many total have been taken into custody. In comparable ICE and Border Patrol operations in other areas, only a fraction of those arrested have had criminal backgrounds.
The attorney general sent her pointed message to Kirkpatrick as agents continued their roundups, which have included immigrants with legal residency status and people mistakenly targeted.
“At this time, I recommend that you immediately direct NOPD officers and staff to fully cooperate with ICE and CBP,” Murrill wrote in the conclusion of her letter.
In an emailed statement, an NOPD spokesperson said Murrill’s letter has been received and was under review.
“NOPD will continue to follow all state and federal laws while staying focused on public safety and maintaining the trust of our community,” Kirkpatrick said in the statement.
Murrill’s letter said NOPD employees would be committing malfeasance in office under state law if they adhere to policies that require them to refuse cooperating with ICE. In addition, they could be charged with a federal felony if they knowingly conceal or withhold information about someone being in the country illegally.
In the letter, Murrill cited policy in the NOPD Operations Manual that bars NOPD officers from assisting federal immigration authorities except in limited instances. These include when there is a threat to life or safety, when executing a court-issued warrant or order, and sending or receiving citizenship status information to and with ICE.
In an interview with WBOK-AM last month, Kirkpatrick said the NOPD would not take part in any “removals” but during federal immigration sweeps would assist agents “if they need help because of safety.”
The superintendent has also described the immigration efforts as civil matters, as opposed to criminal. Murrill challenged that stance in her letter to Kirkpatrick.
“There is no absolution in suggesting that immigration enforcement laws are a ‘civil issue,’ and, on that basis, NOPD cannot assist or support ICE and CBP in their enforcement efforts,” the attorney general wrote.
Murrill also noted a state law approved in 2024 that prohibits cities from adopting “sanctuary policies” that are contrary to immigration laws, adding that she has the authority to sue any local agency that puts any such ordinances or rules in place.
The attorney general is challenging the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which operates the city jail, in federal court over its refusal to honor detainer requests from ICE or share information with the agency on the immigration status of people in custody. The sheriff’s office policy has been in place since 2013 as part of a settlement in a federal case involving two immigrant construction workers who were kept in jail at ICE’s request after they had completed their sentences for minor offenses.
The NOPD’s policy is linked to a 2013 federal consent decree meant to address the department’s history of corruption and unconstitutional police practices. It included measures to curb racial profiling, which potentially impacts how immigration enforcement is conducted.
But less than two weeks before federal agents launched their operation in New Orleans, a federal judge terminated the consent decree at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice and city leaders.
The Trump administration has acted to quash similar federal oversight agreements for police departments in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis, arguing they are too far-reaching and limit the ability of law enforcement to tackle crime.
The Louisiana Illuminator first published this piece, which is republished by The Lens under a Creative Commons license.
