Immigrant rights groups and eyewitnesses said that federal agents made immigration arrests Wednesday at a handful of large home-building stores in the New Orleans region, as the Trump administration launches a sweeping enforcement operation across south Louisiana.
According to social media posts, New Orleans-based advocacy group, Union Migrante, said federal agents had performed arrests at four large homebuilding stores: Lowe's locations on Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans and Veterans Boulevard in Metairie, and Home Depot locations in LaPlace and Gretna.
Spokespeople for Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests to confirm that people were detained.
In social media posts, Union Migrante said it had verified reports of the arrests through eyewitnesses, video and other methods.
A man interviewed by The Times-Picayune who declined to provide his name out of fear of being detained said he was among a group of people looking for work between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Wednesday outside the Lowe's on Elysian Fields Avenue when five Border Patrol vehicles approached the group, asking them if they were "legal" or not.
He estimated that 25 agents were at the scene.
The man said several people ran away, and that Border Patrol agents pursued them. He said the agents detained about two dozen people.
Border Patrol was in and out in a span of about 25 minutes, he said. The man was not among those detained.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.