Gov. Jeff Landry paid an unannounced visit to the French Quarter on New Year’s Day, to be briefed about security for the upcoming Sugar Bowl and to pay his respects to victims on the one-year anniversary of the truck attack that killed 14 people.
The governor also spoke a little about immigration enforcement. When asked by The Lens, Landry said that he wasn’t yet sure about how ICE enforcement would return to New Orleans. “I’m sure we’ll know a little bit more next week,” he said, noting that, because of last year’s terrorist attack, Carnival is ranked as a “SEAR1 rating,” the highest level of federal security. That meant more law enforcement from all levels. “We’re gonna be bringing more federal resources in. So I’m sure that ICE will be a component of that with the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) ATF and DEA.”
At the same time, Landry said, he understands that New Orleans businesses are short-handed because people who could be targeted by ICE are staying home.
“There needs to be a balance,” he said. “I know one thing. We are really pushing on ICE, to make sure that we’re targeting those with criminal records and those with outstanding warrants.”
It was time for the U.S. Congress to better delineate its goals for immigration enforcement, he said.
“Now that the border is sealed and now that we’ve done a good job of taking a good chunk of those criminal illegals out, Congress needs to do something. Congress needs to fix it.”
Walking Bourbon, praying by the original memorial crosses at the Presbytère
Accompanied by his wife Sharon Landry, the governor entered at the top of Bourbon Street, at Canal Street, where the “Second Line in the Sky” memorial begins, with images of the tragedy’s victims printed on prayer flags that wave overhead.
He was dressed casually – in blue jeans, a baseball cap and a Louisiana State Police quarter-zip sweater – in a way that blended into the New Year’s Day Bourbon Street crowd, which was largely football fans from Ole Miss and University of Georgia.
The Landrys stood out as they walked mostly because they were flanked by an entourage of about a dozen Louisiana State Police and Louisiana National Guard. “Must be somebody famous,” a woman said as he passed.
About halfway into the Quarter, Landry stopped at a mechanical steel street barrier to talk quietly about security plans with New Orleans Police Department 8th District Captain Sammy Palumbo, who oversaw a New Year’s Eve celebration without incident on Wednesday, with armored vehicles blocking all side-street entrances to Bourbon and with NOPD officers supplemented by state and federal officers all along the famous corridor.
When finished with Palumbo’s briefing, the governor continued down Bourbon at a relaxed pace, posing for photos with National Guard troops, Louisiana State Police officers, a few business owners, and some constituents who approached him.
The group’s final destination was the Presbytère on Jackson Square, where last year’s original memorials – 14 handmade wooden crosses and 14 photos – are displayed on the front of the building, behind the museum’s iron gate.
“These are the original crosses?” asked Landry, who said that he felt like a permanent memorial should be erected in memory of the victims.
Then the couple walked quietly to the area by the crosses to pay their respects. The governor took off his cap. He and his wife bowed their heads. He made the sign of the cross.
“Today and every day, we will never forget the 14 innocent lives lost on this fateful day one year ago,” he wrote afterward on Instagram.
The 14 victims who died from their injuries that day are: Kareem Badawi; Martin “Tiger” Bech; Drew Dauphin; Nikyra Dedeaux; William DiMaio; Hubert Gauthreaux; Reggie Hunter; Terrence Kennedy; Nicole Perez; Edward Pettifer; LaTasha Polk; Brandon Taylor; Matthew Tenedorio and Elliot Wilkinson.
