Jeff Landry, Alien Smuggling, Louisiana 2023

NEW ORLEANS, LA — A federal watchdog report reveals that the Orleans Parish Prison has repeatedly refused to honor ICE detainer requests, allowing undocumented immigrants with criminal records to walk free — a practice Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is calling a betrayal of public safety. In a blistering letter sent to then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Landry accuses the jail — currently under federal supervision — of actively obstructing federal immigration law.

“Since the federal government is in essence running this facility, it seems any person arrested in the City of New Orleans and therefore booked in the Orleans Parish Prison could be immediately processed if under an ICE detainer request,” Landry wrote. The Orleans Parish Prison, bound by a 2013 consent decree and overseen by a court-appointed compliance director since 2016, is supposed to uphold constitutional standards. Yet it has systematically ignored ICE holds, releasing individuals who are in the country illegally and sometimes facing serious charges.

Last year, Landry led a statewide push to outlaw sanctuary policies that he says endanger communities and undermine federal law. His efforts came after federal mandates under the Obama Administration — specifically a consent decree — required the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to limit cooperation with ICE, effectively creating a sanctuary jurisdiction. While NOPD made minor adjustments, Landry insists they still fail to meet their full obligation to assist federal authorities.

The irony, Landry argues, is that unlike the NOPD’s agreement, the consent decree governing the Orleans Parish Prison explicitly allows — even encourages — communication and cooperation with ICE. Despite that, the jail continues to flout federal requests. “The federal government can’t demand reform in one breath and then shield criminal aliens in the next,” Landry said. “This incongruence is dangerous and deliberate.”

Landry is now urging the DOJ to use its authority to dismantle sanctuary policies in federally monitored jurisdictions. He points to New Orleans as a glaring example of federal hypocrisy — a city under court order to comply with reform, yet permitted to violate federal immigration law with impunity. He calls on Sessions to make these jurisdictions the frontline in enforcing immigration compliance nationwide.

As illegal releases continue and federal oversight fails to produce results, Landry warns that the cost will be paid in streets made more dangerous. “Every time a known undocumented offender is released instead of transferred to ICE, that’s a decision made at the highest levels,” he said. “And it’s one that puts Louisiana citizens at risk.”

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Public Corruption

Frank Knox, Obstruction of Justice, Michigan 1941

Oct 28, 1941

Public Corruption

Albertis S. Harrison Jr, Campaign Violence, Virginia 1961

Jun 7, 1961

Public Corruption

Florida Clerk of Courts Discrimination, Florida 2024

Aug 29, 2014

Public Corruption

Prim F. Escalona, Election Interference, Alabama 2020

Oct 21, 2020