Cold, rainy weather seemed to mark a less visible day for U.S. Border Patrol agents conducting immigration sweeps throughout the metro area Saturday, while opponents of the initiative dubbed “Catahoula Crunch” held three rallies in Metairie and downtown New Orleans.
The initiative, which has already detained dozens of people according to U.S. officials and immigration attorneys, is expected to continue through the weekend and beyond. Senior Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino told reporters during a photo op in Kenner Friday that his agents would be on the streets “every day.”
On Saturday, Bovino and several agents were filmed in Kenner outside of a Circle K and at an apartment complex in social media reports by Telemundo and other independent news outlets, though enforcement activity seemed more muted than the three days since the operation began Wednesday.
At a rally at Lafayette Square Saturday afternoon, about 100 people gathered near the statue of Henry Clay before marching up Poydras Street, along Loyola Avenue and then down Canal street, waving signs and shouting anti-ICE slogans as traffic slowed to a crawl behind them.
An hour later, a few dozen protesters gathered at an intersection in Metairie, where chants were cheered on by drivers passing by on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, with many honking horns and raising fists out their windows in support. Later that night downtown, more than 100 gathered around the Hale Boggs Federal building as speakers called for federal agents to leave New Orleans.
The demonstrations were modest and peaceful, though they marked the biggest day of rallying against the Border Patrol operation since it began.
Protesters shout as they march during a rally on Poydras Street in New Orleans, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Staff photo by Enan Chediak, The Times-Picayune)
In the heavily-Hispanic enclaves of the metro area, such as Kenner and Mid-City New Orleans, neighborhoods have been quiet as residents fearful of Border Patrol attention have stayed home.
At Cafetomas coffee shop on Williams Boulevard Saturday morning, a light drizzle fell in the parking lot and the dining room was empty, save for a couple of customers who trickled in throughout the morning.
Owner Saul Alcazar noted that sales had dropped so sharply at his Uptown location that he recently decided to close it entirely.
Lesly Garcia, owner of Chilangos Restaurant in Kenner, said that she closed the restaurant on Friday because employees were afraid to come to work despite having legal status, she said. But on Saturday, Garcia decided to open her doors for whatever business she could eke out.
“I can’t close completely, because it’s my only source of income,” Garcia said, speaking Spanish as only two tables were occupied in her otherwise empty restaurant. “Imagine, I’m the mother of three children. I have to work.”
A mile away, demonstrators gathered at the Metairie intersection where people had posted on social media Friday night suggesting that a law enforcement vehicle may have struck and killed a pedestrian at an intersection.
In a statement Friday, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said that it was investigating an incident “involving a female pedestrian” who was struck by a vehicle driven by an adult male “who remained on the scene,” the sheriff’s office said. The crash did not involve “any federal immigration authority,” the office said, without providing additional details.
A group of protesters gather in the cold during a rally on Poydras Street in New Orleans, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Staff photo by Enan Chediak, The Times-Picayune)
Nayeli Urbina, a Metairie resident, brought her son Gianni, 6, to the Metairie protest to “show him that his voice matters.”
“What I’m explaining to him is that our skin color is their target, but there’s nothing wrong with your skin color,” she said.
Urbina said her family has dipped into their savings as her husband has stayed home from his job in construction. Her mother has skipped dialysis treatment out of fear of leaving the house.
“It’s heavy in our hearts that they have to feel like they’re criminals when they’re not criminals,” said Urbina.
