Inside Trump's immigration enforcement blitz that is hitting major American cities

Washington, DC — Tempo is rising in the US as federal authorities fan out across New Orleans, Louisiana and the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota, in the Trump administration's widening clampdown on what it says are illegal immigrants.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched its New Orleans push named "Operation Catahoula Crunch."

In Minneapolis and St Paul, a separate US immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation is focusing on "undocumented" Somali immigrants, according to federal officials.

This follows days of political heat after President Donald Trump told his Cabinet that he does not want illegal Somali immigrants in the US, calling Representative Ilhan Omar, the Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, "garbage" who should "go back to where she came from."

"His obsession with me is creepy," Omar hit back. "I hope he gets the help he desperately needs."

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president was "absolutely right to highlight the problems caused by the radical Somali migrants."

While announcing the New Orleans sting, the Trump administration claimed that it was pursuing "the worst of the worst" criminals who were in the country illegally.

These moves run parallel to earlier crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis and Charlotte. Each one of those operations has brought the same warnings from Democratic leaders and the same unease among local communities bracing for federal agents.

Enforcement raids in Charlotte have resulted in the arrest of more than 425 undocumented immigrants since the operation began, the agency stated on Wednesday. The DHS added that the operation "is progressing."

Over the months, the system itself has shifted. Illegal border crossings are down, asylum and refugee pathways are blocked from several countries, and US work visas are tightening.

Shift in mood

New Orleans, a city of about 384,000 people, is the latest Democratic-run target.

Federal teams previously poured into Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, and now the city, often called "Hollywood South", finds itself in the same cycle.

The Charlotte operation ended only days ago. Now the focus is here.

Inside New Orleans, the mood has changed. Mayor-elect Democrat Helena Moreno speaks of streets where tension sits just under the surface.

"It’s more than nervousness. I mean people are incredibly fearful of what could be coming," she says.

She argues the tactics are not aimed at the most dangerous offenders. "What they’re seeing on TV and reports that they’re seeing is not that Border Patrol is going after the most violent criminals. That’s not what they’re seeing."

"What they’re seeing is what appears to be racial profiling of brown people and then going after these individuals and treating them like they are these significantly violent offenders," adds Moreno.

Meanwhile, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick says the police won’t conduct immigration arrests.

"To be in the country undocumented is a civil issue," Kirkpatrick says. "We will not enforce civil law."

Some businesses in the city — with a history of resilience and cultural prominence — are improvising as federal agents move in.

Many businesses have turned their front doors into a warning line, posting signs that say ICE and CBP have no consent to enter. The approach mirrors tactics used in other cities targeted by ICE operations.

Decline in crime

Hours after Trump said he would send National Guard troops to Louisiana, DHS framed its New Orleans push as an effort to track "criminal aliens roaming free thanks to sanctuary policies that force local authorities to ignore ICE arrest detainers."

The number of Guard troops remains unspecified. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin says those targeted in New Orleans include people previously arrested for home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto and rape.

Louisiana’s governor, Jeff Landry, supports the federal deployment. He notes that the city has seen major declines in crime and is on track to record its lowest number of homicides in almost 50 years.

At the federal level, the administration has already paused immigration applications from nineteen countries, including Somalia.

Soon after DHS released its statement, the FBI in New Orleans announced that federal agents and state police would begin a joint operation to "deter assaults on federal officers and attempts to obstruct law enforcement action" during the sweep.

'Community would be supported'

In Minneapolis, a parallel operation follows days of reports that Somali neighbourhoods in the metro area would be targeted this week.

The region is home to the Somali community and their extended families, many of whom have spent the past few days waiting for clarity.

Somalis are concentrated in a few Midwestern and West Coast states in the US, historically driven by refugee resettlement programmes (in the 1990s–2000s) and secondary migration for jobs in logistics and services.

Of the 163,769 Somali individuals based on the 2023 American Community Survey, over 70 percent live in just three states: Minnesota (37.5 percent), Ohio (16.1 percent), and Washington (8.7 percent).

As this unfolds, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, responding to reports that federal immigration agents were set to descend on his city and neighbouring St Paul to target undocumented Somali residents, said, regardless of whether raids were coming, the community will be protected in every way possible by local authorities.

Roughly 80,000 Somalis live in Minnesota, mostly in the Twin Cities metro region.

Frey added that local police would not work with federal agents on any immigration matter.

"To villainise an entire group is ridiculous under any circumstances," the mayor added.