Community activists gathered outside a Baton Rouge church with a unified message: Operation Catahoula Crunch must end now. Faith leaders and organizers say while the government has long maintained that the operation’s goal is to go after the worst violent criminals who are in the country illegally, that’s not what’s happening. Christina from the group Misión Migrante told the story of a 17-year-old who was accosted by six federal agents in tactical gear as he was putting gas in his car in Denham Springs.
“They instantly handcuffed me and said they were detaining me, and I said ‘okay.’ They asked me if I was a U.S. citizen and I said ‘Yes,"” Christina explained.
Christina says after several minutes of aggressive questioning, the agents realized the teen wasn’t lying and let him go. Marcela Hernandez from Familias Unidas En Acción says it’s a scene playing out over and over again.
“We have seen individuals being pulled over and taken away. Even if they have legal immigration cases open,” Hernandez said.
Sara Ayo Louis with the group Voice of the Experienced says Operation Catahoula Crunch is not keeping communities safe as the government claims it is – it’s terrifying communities.
“We are seeing parents torn from their children, workers taken while earning an honest living, students afraid to walk to class, and entire neighborhoods living under the weight of racial profiling,” Louis said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it has arrested 370 undocumented immigrants since early December as part of Operation Catahoula Crunch but has not said how many have committed violent crimes. It’s been reported that some of the individuals detained were alleged drug dealers or involved in hit-and-run accidents. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem says they are making America Safe Again by securing the border, taking the fight to cartels and arresting thousands of undocumented immigrants nationwide.