U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents in Chicago
New Orleans City Council Vice President and Mayor-elect Helena Moreno Nov. 21 released a two-page know-your-rights and legal assistance guide for New Orleans residents as President Donald Trump’s border patrol paramilitary units were preparing to enter the city for Operation Swamp Sweep, or Operation SS for short.
The full guidance can be found below.
Moreno also announced that she and Council President JP Morrell would launch a reporting system for the public to “catalog any incidents of unlawful or abusive behavior” by agents in New Orleans.
Operation SS is part of a broader national push by Trump to use heavily armed ICE and CBP units — which have a history of corruption, civil and human rights abuse, cross border killings and violence — in cities with large Black and brown populations to round up suspected undocumented people.
Trump’s anti-immigrant operations have drawn significant criticism from local officials, civil and human rights groups, religious leaders and others.
In a statement Moreno said “My first priority is to keep our community safe. The reports of due process violations and potential abuses in other cities are concerning. I want our community to be aware and informed of the protections available under law. We must demand accountability and that peoples’ rights are not violated.”
Moreno also urged the city’s legal community “to step up and provide whatever assistance they can to help protect and preserve individual rights.”
Based on National Immigration Resource Center’s guidance, the two-page document provides basic information on New Orleanians’ rights when dealing with CBP units deployed in the city as part of Operation SS — though it is also useful for encounters with ICE and other federal agents.
For instance, Moreno’s guidance notes that if you are stopped by CBP and have legal status, “show your passport, legal permanent resident card, work permit, or other documentation of your status. If you are over the age of 18, you should carry your papers with you at all times.”
For undocumented New Orleanians, the guidance notes “you have the right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with the police, immigration agents, or other officials. Anything you tell an officer can later be used against you in immigration court.”
Similarly ICE and CBP will often attempt to enter private residences without a warrant, often falsely claiming they have the right to do so. But the guidance points out, “Officers must have a warrant signed by a judge to enter your home. ICE ‘warrants’ are not signed by judges; they are ICE forms signed by ICE officers and they do not grant authority to enter a home without consent of the occupant(s).”
The guidance also includes links to direct legal assistance from the Tulane Law Immigrants’ Rights Law Clinic, Immigration Services and Legacy Advocacy and the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans Immigration and Refugee Services, as well as links to the Mexican and Honduras consulates in New Orleans.
