A New Orleans City Council meeting devolved into disorder on Thursday as anti-ICE demonstrators flooded the chamber, vocally opposing officials and confronting police. The turmoil was sparked by the initiation of a substantial federal immigration enforcement operation currently active across southeastern Louisiana.
The disruption unfolded just a day after the Department of Homeland Security unveiled “Operation Catahoula Crunch,” a two-month federal push deploying 250 Border Patrol agents to New Orleans and neighboring areas. Known among protesters as “Swamp Sweep,” the initiative has been met with strong criticism from immigrant-rights advocates, fueling increasing discontent at city hall.
Protesters started assembling outside City Hall around 9:30 a.m., brandishing signs and amplifying their chants with megaphones, vocally opposing the operation. Tensions heightened when officers later allowed these demonstrators into the council chambers.
A number of protesters advanced towards the podium, attempting to voice their grievances, but council members interrupted, indicating their statements were off-topic. The chamber became a cacophony of “Shame!” and “Coward!” cries, causing the council members to abruptly adjourn the meeting and vacate the room, leaving the protesters in control.
Anti-ICE and Border Patrol protesters were eventually removed by New Orleans Police Department officers after causing a disturbance during the council meeting at City Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 4, 2025. (Adam Gray / AFP via Getty Images)
Approximately 30 to 40 protesters defied multiple police orders to disperse. Officers began to escort individuals out, and during one particularly intense moment, an officer physically carried a protester out of the chamber amid outraged shouts from the crowd.
“Shame on you! He’s a peaceful protester!” one woman yelled. “You don’t drag people out like that — it’s criminal!”
Another protester confronted officers near the chamber doors, yelling, “Our people are under attack and you drag him out? Who do you work for?”
New Orleans police officers carry a man out of city hall after he participated in a protest against the deployment of federal agents in the city during a city council meeting on Dec. 4, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
Outside the barricades, activists flipped off officers and shouted obscenities while police held their positions behind a metal gate. As of Thursday afternoon, no arrests or detentions had been reported.
Inside the chamber, protesters broke into a sustained chant, shouting, “No ICE! No KKK! No racist USA!”
The Department of Homeland Security says Operation Catahoula Crunch is aimed at removing “criminal illegal aliens roaming free thanks to sanctuary policies” that prevent local authorities from honoring ICE arrest detainers.
WATCH: Anti-ICE protesters dragged out of New Orleans City Hall
In a sharply worded statement, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said sanctuary policies “endanger American communities by releasing illegal criminal aliens and forcing DHS law enforcement to risk their lives to remove criminal illegal aliens that should have never been put back on the streets.”
She continued, saying it was “asinine that these monsters were released back onto New Orleans streets to COMMIT MORE CRIMES and create more victims.”
McLaughlin also emphasized that Operation Catahoula Crunch is focused on offenders she described as “violent criminals who were released after arrest for home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto, and rape,” adding that “under President Trump and Secretary Noem, we are restoring law and order for the American people.”
Thursday’s confrontation came after a Monday demonstration outside City Hall, where dozens gathered to oppose the impending sweep. According to local outlet WWNO, Monday’s event featured emotional speeches accusing DHS of retraumatizing immigrant communities.
One demonstrator told the crowd that “we were hurting, we were abandoned and instead of help, we got soldiers with rifles,” adding that the community needs “housing, health care, real jobs, not soldiers.”
Another protester grew emotional while shouting about a deceased family member, saying, “You can’t crush the flame of someone who’s already gone.”
Organizers on Monday accused federal authorities and local police of “targeting vulnerable communities” and vowed to continue demonstrating “for as long as Operation Swamp Sweep remains in effect.”
WWNO reported that Monday’s event was organized by the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, with support from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Indivisible NOLA, Union Migrante and others.
DHS has given no end date beyond confirming the operation is expected to run for roughly two months.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
