QUESTIONS AT QUARTERBACK A CONCERN FOR CAJUNS 1C THE
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T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
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T h u r s d ay, O c T O b e r 30, 2025
2025 LEGISLATURE
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BROUSSARD CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL SESSION
Election delay approved
As session ends, big redistricting battles could be on horizon
Sidewalk for school access planned Billeaud Elementary set for rapid growth in Lafayette Parish BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, speaks during a news conference alongside House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, at the State Capitol on Wednesday after the end of the special session. BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
The Louisiana Legislature concluded business and left the Capitol on Wednesday, and when it next returns, lawmakers could be stepping into a bitter partisan fight over Loui-
siana’s congressional map. All eyes are now on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, a potentially watershed voting-rights and redistricting case, which could come as early as this year or as late as next summer. During a special session
ä Virginia Democrats advance redistricting amendment. PAGE 6A that ended Wednesday, the GOP-controlled Legislature approved a plan to delay Louisiana’s new closed party pri-
mary elections for U.S. House and Senate by one month from April to May. Republican leaders said they want the extra month to see if a Supreme Court decision in the Callais case comes down be-
ä See ELECTION, page 5A
Landry: La. will cover most food stamp benefits BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN
“Our priorities are very specific. We are going to protect the most vulnerable population Louisiana’s state govern- in Louisiana, which is our kids, ment will pay to ensure most our elderly and the disabled,” federal food stamp recipients Landry said. “We’re going to lead the nation in the continue to receive money for grocer- ä LSU FOOTBALL: way we take care of people.” ies if the shutdown Landry says AD Landry encourin Washington, D.C., Woodward isn’t continues, Gov. Jeff aged those the state picking the next Landry announced doesn’t cover to look coach. PAGE 1B Wednesday. for work at louisiBut 53,000 ableanaworks.net and to bodied adults are lean on food banks. unlikely to be covered under He called on Louisianans with the state’s plan, which priori- the means to help stock food tizes the elderly, people with banks to step up to fill the gap. disabilities and households ä See BENEFITS, page 5A with children. Staff writer
Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during a news conference at the State Capitol on Wednesday.
Students at Lafayette Parish’s fastest-growing elementary school will soon have a new way to commute to school. The Broussard City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday evening that authorizes a sidewalk to be constructed near Martial Billeaud Elementary School. Completion of the sidewalk is expected to facilitate safe pedestrian access for students who live in the nearby Ambassador Commons and Paige Place neighborhoods. The sidewalks, which will be built along Fairfield Drive and Marteau Road, are estimated to cost $300,000, with the Lafayette Parish school system agreeing to contribute $150,000 to the project, according to Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque. Billeaud Elementary is projected to see the largest increase in enrollment in LPSS between 2023 and 2027, according to estimates released following the 2022-23 school year. Billeaud’s enrollment is expected to have a student population of more than 1,300 by 2027, a figure more than twice as large as the number of students enrolled in the year 2020. The council additionally heard a presentation on a proposed plan to shift the maintenance of city facilities into a dedicated subdepartment under the city’s Public Works department. Broussard currently outsources most maintenance work, with each department being responsible for arranging repairs. Bourque says that under the new plan, the city will be able to more efficiently control its buildings and save money by not relying on contractors. “If the police department has a leaky faucet, they shouldn’t have to worry about contacting a private firm. That’s not a good use of resources. ... The goal here is to save money and have a better product,” Bourque said. A formal proposal instituting the change is likely in the coming months.
ICE detainee at Angola sent to Laos, despite citizenship claims Agency violated La. judge’s order, ACLU says
claim” to being an American citizen, to Laos, where he is in custody, according to the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union. Because of that claim, Judge Shelly Dick of the Middle District Court of Louisiana issued a temBY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer porary order on Oct. 23 blocking the government from sending U.S. Immigration and Customs Chanthila Souvannarath out of the Enforcement has sent a 44-year-old country. But the U.S. Department Louisiana Lockup detainee, who a of Homeland Security, which overjudge has said has a “substantial sees ICE, says it sent Souvannara-
WEATHER HIGH 67 LOW 47 PAGE 6A
th to Laos before the order came down. Souvannarath, who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, received lawful permanent residence in the United States as a baby, Dick wrote in her court decision. Souvannarath said that, because his father became a naturalized citizen, and because he entered his father’s sole custody at 13, he met the requirements for deriva-
tive citizenship and has been a U.S. citizen since childhood, according to the order. The order says the government is “immediately prohibited from removing” Souvannarath from the United States or from the jurisdiction of the Middle District, which covers the Baton Rouge region. “This is what happens when you disappear people to notorious, isolated prisons under the guise of ‘civil’ detention — you end up
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wrongfully deporting individuals with strong claims to U.S. citizenship,” Sarah Gillman, director of Strategic U.S. Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, said in a statement. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that “there was no mistake,” and that Souvannarath was removed before Dick’s order was issued. The
ä See DETAINEE, page 5A
101ST yEAR, NO. 122