By SARA CLINE and JACK BROOK, Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that National Guard troops will soon head to New Orleans and bring another federal surge to the city that is already awaiting a separate immigration crackdown that is expected to begin this week.
Trump did not say how many troops would be sent to New Orleans or exactly when they would arrive. Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who asked the Trump administration in September for up to 1,000 troops to fight crime, told reporters Monday that he expected the Guard to arrive in New Orleans before Christmas.
“Gov. Landry — a great guy, a great governor — he’s asked for help in New Orleans. And we’re going to go there in a couple of weeks,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Landry, a staunch Trump ally, has said he welcomes federal intervention in Democratic-run New Orleans, citing concerns about elevated violent crime rates even though local police officials say crime is down. Separately, Landry posted on social media this week that “We Welcome the Swamp Sweep in Louisiana,” referring to the Border Patrol-led operation that aims to arrest 5,000 people over the coming weeks.
Opponents argue that deployment of federal troops or agents in Louisiana is unwarranted, especially as some cities have actually seen a decrease in violent crime rates — namely New Orleans, which is on pace to have one of its safest years, statistically, since the 1970s.
In September, Landry requested federally funded National Guard troops be sent to Louisiana. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Landry said there have been “elevated violent crime rates” in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport along with shortages in law enforcement personnel.
Landry also said the state’s vulnerability to natural disasters makes the issue more challenging, and the extra support would be especially helpful for major events, including Mardi Gras and college football bowl games.
Louisiana National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Noel Collins declined to comment Tuesday.
In 2022, New Orleans had the dubious distinction of being considered the “murder capital of the country,” reporting the highest per-capita homicide rate in the nation. That year there were 266 murders — a rate of 70 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Three years later, however, shootings, carjackings and armed robberies have plummeted. While there has been a spike of homicides in recent weeks, the city is still on pace to have its lowest number in nearly 50 years, according to crime data from the police department. As of early November, the New Orleans Police Department reported 97 murders.
Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, a Democrat who takes office in January, has firmly rejected the idea of a National Guard deployment in the blue city and has expressed concern that a federal immigration enforcement surge will lead to rights violations.
Outgoing Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat facing federal corruption charges, previously said the city was open to working with the federal government to improve public safety.
Moreno and Cantrell did not immediately provide comment about the impending deployment.
Other New Orleans officials have warned that troops could disrupt unique cultural traditions, such as the frequent brass band parades in the streets that are known as second-lines or jeopardize hard-won relationships between communities and the police.
In January, 100 guard members were sent to the city to help with security measures following a New Year’s Day truck attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens of other revelers on Bourbon Street.
In September, Landry also suggested that federally funded National Guard troops should be sent to Baton Rouge and Shreveport, and Monday indicated troops would be sent to cities beyond New Orleans.
In Baton Rouge, the capital, Republican Mayor Sid Edwards said this month that extra assets could provide “much-needed boots on the ground” amid a police shortage.
Although homicides are on pace to decrease from the previous year there as well, the city has struggled with gun violence, with bystanders caught in crossfire made worse by the use of machine gun conversion devices. A recent multiagency initiative to crack down on violent crime resulted in more than 100 arrests and the seizure of guns.
In conservative Shreveport, the hometown of U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican Mayor Tom Arceneaux told The Associated Press in October that violent crime has significantly decreased. Arceneaux said he was willing to work with the National Guard but would prefer receiving state police officers instead.
Louisiana is the latest place where Trump has sent — or tried to send — National Guard troops in recent months. Other cities include Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington and Memphis, Tennessee. Leaders in Democratic-controlled jurisdictions have turned to legal action to block planned deployments, such as in Chicago and Portland, Oregon.
Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writer Michelle Price contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.
