Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol's agent in charge of Operation Catahoula Crunch in New Orleans, told Newsmax on Monday that no state has provided stronger cooperation than Louisiana, where joint teams have conducted large-scale arrests of criminal illegal aliens.
On "Rob Schmitt Tonight," Bovino said that federal officers are operating in what he called "the Big Hard"— a play on "the Big Easy," New Orleans' nickname — because state and local law enforcement have made it far tougher for fugitive criminal illegal immigrants to hide.
"We're doing the job here in the Big Easy," Bovino said. "As a matter of fact, we don't call it the Big Easy. We call it the Big Hard for these criminal aliens. ICE, Border Patrol, and all those allied partners ... are arresting criminal aliens by the dozens each day."
Bovino detailed several recent arrests, including a man convicted of sexual assault with a weapon who had served 20 years of a 40-year sentence before being released on parole. Agents found and detained him during this week's operations.
But Bovino said the difference in Louisiana goes well beyond arrest totals. As immigration enforcement has become increasingly politicized — with agents elsewhere encountering protests, harassment, and even attacks — Louisiana has set itself apart.
"We have support. Let me say that again. We've got unparalleled support from Gov. [Jeff] Landry, Louisiana State Highway Patrol, [and] the Kenner Police Department," Bovino said, noting that federal teams often patrol Kenner. "I've not seen such support on the ground."
That cooperation, he said, has produced tangible safety results.
"This week here in New Orleans, we've not had one assault, one vehicle ramming," he said. "We've not had one shooting incident against a Border Patrol agent or anything like that. And I attribute that again to those fantastic partners."
Bovino's comments came as the administration expands its interior-enforcement operations into major metropolitan areas, building on earlier deployments in Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina, which targeted criminal illegal immigrants with outstanding warrants or histories of violence.
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