By: Sabrina Wilson | fox8live.com | February 13, 2026
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – While the status of DHS’ Operation Catahoula Crunch in Louisiana remains unclear, Attorney General Liz Murrill said her office worked with NOPD leadership to make sure the police department’s immigration policy complies with state and federal law.
“My office worked with the leadership of NOPD to ensure that their policy complies with state and federal law. We agreed on some commonsense changes to blend their policy in areas where those issues ..and she now believes that the nopd’s policy is compliant with state and federal law,” Liz Murrill said.
Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, is aware of the policy change.
“I think the policy was amended to reflect the change in state law that was initiated a few years ago. But, you know, the reality is the New Orleans Police Department and their partners in town, the Louisiana State Police, they’re not conducting immigration enforcement. That is the responsibility of ICE and the Border Patrol,” Goyeneche said.
Goyeneche continued, “So, if the NOPD or if the Louisiana State Police make a stop and they determine that there is a federal warrant for somebody to be detained, they will bring that individual to the local jail. And the local jail will be responsible for alerting the federal people to come pick them up. This is just formalizing and changing policy to reflect the law change that Louisiana did a few years ago. It’s not going to substantively change anything,” Goyeneche said.
FOX 8 asked Gov. Jeff Landry to comment on the policy change while he was on the North Shore on Thursday for events marking infrastructure improvements.
“And so what you’ve seen is that as we’ve implemented a rule of law, as we have removed the obstacles from our law enforcement community to be able to keep us safe, that our communities get safer. And so again, I applaud any changes that are made that help to, that give our police officers the tools necessary to enforce the law,” Landry said.
Late Thursday afternoon, Mayor Helena Moreno issued a statement saying she signed an executive order prohibiting any public official from entering into a 287(g) agreement. Such agreements allow ICE to deputize local law enforcement to conduct immigration enforcement operations.
Moreno wrote, “Immigration enforcement is not the mission of the New Orleans Police Department – it never has been and it won’t be under my watch. NOPD will never ask for anyone’s immigration status and will not be deputized under ICE. NOPD’s priority is public safety — responding to violent crime, protecting residents, and building trust in our communities. We will always comply with state law while simultaneously protecting New Orleanians.”
Moreno’s press release also said, “The Executive Order states that no city official shall sign or submit any application, letter of intent, certification, or other document intended to establish, implement, or participate in a 287(g) or ICE Agreement.”
Murrill said after Moreno’s comment, “The only person who could enter into this type of agreement under the Mayor’s authority is the Superintendent of NOPD. It seems to me that the Mayor could have just sent her an email.”
Goyeneche said New Orleans is not a so-called sanctuary city.
“New Orleans has received the label that they’re a sanctuary city. The reality is that it’s not a sanctuary city. Never has been. Because the police department is not engaged in immigration enforcement. They don’t have any information about immigrants,” Goyeneche said. “The only way that they would have it would be if it’s put in a national database. And we’re finding out there’s a lot of warrants that weren’t put in the national database.”