Criticism of ICE in New Orleans tracked by officials

State and federal authorities are closely tracking online criticism and demonstrations against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans, monitoring message boards around the clock for suspected threats to agents while compiling regular updates on public “sentiment” surrounding the arrests, according to law enforcement records reviewed by the Associated Press.

- BY JIM MUSTIAN AND JACK BROOK

WILMA FUENTES yells at Border Patrol leader Gregory Bovino in Kenner, La.

(GERALD HERBERT Associated Press)

The intelligence gathering comes even as officials have released few details about the first arrests made last week as part of an operation dubbed Catahoula Crunch, prompting calls for greater transparency from local officials who say they’ve been kept in the dark about virtually every aspect of the mission.

“Online opinions still remain mixed, with some supporting the operations while others are against them,” said a briefing circulated early Sunday to law enforcement. Earlier bulletins noted “a combination of groups urging the public to record ICE and Border Patrol” as well as “additional locations where agents can find immigrants.”

Immigration authorities have insisted the sweeps are targeted at “criminal illegal aliens.” But the law enforcement records detail criminal histories for less than a third of the 38 people arrested in the first two days of the operation.

Local leaders told the AP those numbers — which law enforcement officials were admonished not to distribute to the media — undermined the stated aim of the roundup. They also expressed concern that the online surveillance could chill free speech as authorities threaten to charge anyone interfering with immigration enforcement.

“It confirms what we already knew — this was not about public safety, it’s about stoking chaos and fear and terrorizing communities,” said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents New Orleans. “It’s furthering a sick narrative of stereotypes that immigrants are violent.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the intelligence gathering and referred the AP to a prior news release touting “dozens of arrests.” The agency has not released an accounting of the detainees taken into custody or their criminal histories.