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THE
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
S at u r d ay, d e c e m b e r 13, 2025
EPA plans to reduce wetland protections
$2.00X
Border Patrol presence increases in BR area
Rule change could open millions of acres to development
Nonprofit organizers say 60-75 people detained since Tuesday
BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
The Capital Region saw its first wave of immigration arrests by Border Patrol agents this week, as the “Catahoula Crunch” operation spread from the New Orleans area. Border Patrol agents have detained more than 250 people since the operation started Dec. 3, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday. But the agency did not elaborate on how many of those arrests have been in New Orleans compared to Baton Rouge and its surrounding communities. While immigration detainments have been happening in the Capital Region since May, there has been a drastic increase in arrests starting this week, according to the Mision Migrante Coalition, a group that organizer Rachel Taber described as a loosely organized group of citizen volunteers, community leaders and attorneys aiming to educate immigrants about their rights. Organizers say between 60 and 75 people have been detained since Tuesday, mainly in areas with large Hispanic populations, including neighborhoods such as Belaire, Sherwood Forest and Gardere.
ä See BORDER, page 5A
STAFF FILE PHOTO By JOHN MCCUSKER
Wetlands surround a home in Slidell’s Avery Estates. A proposed federal rule could dramatically reduce the number of wetlands in Louisiana that qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act. BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
A proposed federal rule could dramatically reduce the number of wetlands in Louisiana that qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act, a move that could expose millions of acres to development. Under the proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, only wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to waters that are “relatively permanent” — meaning they hold water year-round or with only brief interruptions — would remain federally protected. Wetlands that are seasonal, intermittent or connected only after storms would likely fall outside federal jurisdiction. The change is intended to conform with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Sackett v. Environmental
WEATHER HIGH 74 LOW 53 PAGE 6C
“This rule would turn the Clean Water Act on its head.” MARK DAVIS, director of Tulane University’s Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy Protection Agency, which sharply restricted how wetlands can be regulated. But the new proposed rule, issued last month, goes further by removing several long-standing categories of protected water, such as interstate waters, and by formally defining terms that are likely to make federal oversight even narrower. “This rule would turn the Clean Water Act on its head,” said Mark Davis, the director of Tulane University’s Institute on Water Resources
Law and Policy. A report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy nonprofit, estimates that up to 3.9 million acres of Louisiana wetlands — roughly half of the state’s remaining wetlands — could lose protection under the proposed rule. Nationally, the group projects that as much as 84% of wetlands protected before the Sackett ruling, or 55 million acres, could fall outside federal authority. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost more than 2,000 square miles of wetlands. The EPA, led by Administrator Lee Zeldin, said the proposal is designed to provide legal clarity by defining a “Water of the United States,” or area protected under the Clean Water Act. “Democrat Administrations have
Louisiana, CVS to settle drug price dispute BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Louisiana has agreed to settle two lawsuits against CVS Health that were filed earlier this year over the company’s treatment of independent pharmacies and its general business practices, court records show. The terms of the settlement were not immediately available. On Friday, a spokesperson for Attorney General Liz Murrill said he could not yet provide details. A spokesperson for CVS declined to comment. The cases represent two of three actions Murrill
ä See WETLANDS, page 5A
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ä See CVS, page 5A
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