(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice has named New Orleans among the nation’s list of Sanctuary Jurisdictions, citing local laws and policies it says obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
The designation comes as Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is seeking to end Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office restrictions on cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Current policy bars executing ICE warrants unless the individuals are linked to violent offenses – a rule the Justice Department says meets the criteria for sanctuary status.
Murrill, in a February filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, said the policy violates federal law and endangers public safety.
“The people of Louisiana…have adamantly rejected ‘sanctuary’ policies that shield those who have broken our laws and endanger the men, women, and children of this state,” Murrill said. “We look forward to working with President Trump to end the wave of violent crime and drugs that has swept across this nation from the southern border for the last eight years.”
Murill is asking the court to intervene in long-running federal oversight of the Sheriff’s Office – the consent decree – to remove or alter provisions she says block cooperation with immigration enforcement. The state is still awaiting a ruling from the Eastern District.
Murill says a 2024 change in state law on immigration detainers should have led the parties to seek an end to the consent judgment, enabling the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office to follow state requirements.
“But no party has done so,” Murill said.
The 2024 law requires that state and local law enforcement comply with immigration detainers issued to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Justice Department defines sanctuary jurisdictions as those that limit ICE detainer requests without judicial warrants, restrict ICE access to detainees, limit information sharing on immigration status, and bar the use of local resources for federal immigration enforcement.
New Orleans is the only Louisiana jurisdiction on the Justice Department’s list, which also includes California, New York, and Washington, as well as cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and Seattle. The list will be updated to add or remove jurisdictions as policies change.
This marks the latest chapter in a nearly decade-long clash over New Orleans’ immigration policies, dating back to 2016 when then-Attorney General Jeff Landry testified before Congress that the consent decree “absolutely violated federal law.”
Federal, state and local officials remain at odds over how far local governments can go in limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
