New Orleans leaders denounce federal immigration crackdown

One video shows a U.S. citizen being chased home from a store by masked men.

- BY JACK BROOK

RESIDENTS record immigration agents conducting operations in Kenner, La.

(ADAM GRAY AFP/Getty Images)

New Orleans' mayor-elect said Friday that a federal immigration crackdown launched last week is already causing harm as encounters between masked agents and residents, including some caught on video, have prompted public backlash in the Democratic city.

Frustrated city officials pointed to the case of Jacelynn Guzman, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who was walking back to her Louisiana home from a trip to the grocery store Wednesday when a truck pulled up and two masked federal agents approached her, according to security video obtained by the Associated Press.

Guzman began running away as a second vehicle arrived and the agents pursued her down the sidewalk until she reached her family's home in Marrero, a neighborhood across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans. Guzman's mother has lived there her entire life.

"We're legal, we are from here, born and raised," Guzman shouted back at the agents. "Don't chase me, that is disgusting."

Guzman, who has no criminal record, told the Associated Press that she panicked when agents approached.