NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — Around 250 federal border agents are set to descend on New Orleans in the coming weeks for a two-month immigration crackdown dubbed “Swamp Sweep” that aims to arrest roughly 5,000 people across southeast Louisiana and into southeast Mississippi, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and three people familiar with the operation.
The deployment, which is expected to begin in earnest on Dec. 1, marks the latest escalation in a series of rapid-fire immigration crackdowns unfolding nationwide—from Chicago to Los Angeles to Charlotte, North Carolina—as the Trump administration moves aggressively to fulfill the president’s campaign promise of mass deportations.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves speaks at a Nov. 4, 2025, press conference in Jackson, Miss. Photo by Heather Harrison, Mississippi Free Press
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves told WAPT this morning that he “supports the president’s efforts in trying to get law and order in our state and in our country.”
“We support law and order in the State of Mississippi, and if you are in our state legally, then you have nothing to worry about. If you are in our country legally, then you have nothing to worry about,” Reeves said.
While President Donald Trump often talks about going after criminal immigrants, government data shows that about half of the 66,000 immigrants have no criminal history. While entering the country illegally is a misdemeanor offense, overstaying a visa is a civil offense, but not a crime.
“We look forward to working with Secretary Noem and the president to protect our communities and strengthen our efforts to combat human trafficking, drug cartels, and violent crime,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch told Fox News on Friday.
Mississippi State Auditor Shad White praised the operation in a Facebook post, saying that “sworn officers of the Office of the State Auditor are honored to serve as state-level partners for ICE, should they need us.”
Mississippi is no stranger to large-scale immigration enforcement actions. In 2019, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executed the largest single-day workplace ICE raid in history, targeting hundreds of immigrants who worked at Mississippi poultry plants. Some families are still rebuilding more than half a decade later.
In Louisiana, the Swamp Sweep operation is unfolding on the home turf of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a close Trump ally who has moved to align state policy with the White House’s enforcement agenda. But, as seen in other blue cities situated in Republican-led states, increased federal enforcement presence could set up a collision with officials in liberal New Orleans who have long resisted federal sweeps.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, seen here in Jackson, Miss., on Sept. 22, 2025, said on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, that she looks forward to working with the Trump administration on Operation Swamp Sweep.” Photo by Shaunicy Muhammad, Mississippi Free Press
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander tapped to run the Louisiana sweep, has become the administration’s go-to architect for large-scale immigration crackdowns—and a magnet for criticism over the tactics used in them. His selection to oversee “Swamp Sweep” signals that the administration views Louisiana as a major enforcement priority for the Trump administration.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the operation. “For the safety and security of law enforcement we’re not going to telegraph potential operations,” spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
In Chicago, Bovino drew a rare public rebuke from a federal judge who said he misled the court about the threats posed by protesters and deployed tear gas and pepper balls without justification during a chaotic confrontation downtown. His teams also oversaw aggressive arrest operations in Los Angeles and more recently in Charlotte, where Border Patrol officials have touted dozens of arrests across North Carolina this week after a surging immigration crackdown that has included federal agents scouring churches, grocery stores and apartment complexes.
Planning documents reviewed by the AP show Border Patrol teams preparing to fan out across neighborhoods and commercial hubs throughout southeast Louisiana, stretching from New Orleans through Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes and as far north as Baton Rouge, with additional activity planned in southeastern Mississippi.
People protest at a demonstration organized by the Service Employees International Union protesting ICE detentions, in New Orleans, Tuesday, July 1, 2025. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Agents were expected to arrive in New Orleans on Friday to begin staging equipment and vehicles before the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the people familiar with the operation. They are scheduled to return toward the end of the month, with the full sweep beginning in early December. The people familiar with the matter could not publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
To support an operation of that scale, federal officials are securing a network of staging sites: A portion of the FBI’s New Orleans field office has been designated as a command post, while a naval base five miles south of the city will store vehicles, equipment and thousands of pounds of “less lethal” munitions like tear gas and pepper balls, the people said. Homeland Security has also asked to use the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans for up to 90 days beginning this weekend, according to documents reviewed by the AP.
Once “Swamp Sweep” begins, Louisiana will become a major testing ground for the administration’s expanding deportation strategy, and a focal point in the widening rift between federal authorities intent on carrying out large-scale arrests and city officials who have long resisted them.
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Associated Press journalists Elliot Spagat and Mike Balsamo contributed to this report.
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