N O L A.C O M
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T u e s d ay, J a n u a ry 20, 2026
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Fears over Border Patrol activity linger Pace of arrests has fallen sharply
BY JAMES FINN and LARA NICHOLSON
Staff writers
Saul Alcazar had a rough December. Business at the Kenner location of Cafetomas, his Hispanic restaurant known for its arepas and fruit juice, was cut in half after U.S. Border Patrol agents flooded into the New Orleans area on Dec. 3. He closed his South Carrollton Avenue location after his chef decamped to Texas. January started off better. Customers returned, and employees
came to work. And then on Jan. 6, Border Patrol Commander-atLarge Gregory Bovino was spotted at his cafe’s doorstep. Ever since, the restaurant has been a “ghost town,” Alcazar said. So it goes for many New Orleans businesses and residents a little over a month after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents surged into the area. While signs suggest that Catahoula Crunch, the federal government’s name for its ICE-led south Louisiana operation, has largely ended, members of the region’s immigrant communities say that even
Enduring
as businesses reopen and people fearful of being deported breathe a sigh of relief, an undercurrent of anxiety remains. “It seems that the storm is over a little bit,” said Christian Pokorn, a New Orleans construction firm owner who paused projects in December due to a labor shortage. Federal agents have remained active in the New Orleans area in recent weeks. Still, the pace of arrests reported by authorities and immigrant rights groups has fallen sharply since early December when Border Patrol officers wearing the agency’s signature greenand-yellow tactical gear detained
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Cafetomas owner Saul Alcazar, center, stands in the middle of his Kenner restaurant’s dining room at the peak of lunchtime on Thursday. Alcazar said before federal immigration sweeps in the area, it was normally hard ä See PATROL, page 4A to find an open seat at this time of day.
legacy
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Ida recovery program to end
Billion-dollar initiative established precedent, process BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
ABOVE: Noah Jackson, 8, smiles as he holds a banner near the front of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom March on Monday. TOP: The Rev. C.S. Gordon Jr., pastor at New Zion Baptist Church, leads a prayer by the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on Claiborne Avenue.
Events around New Orleans on Monday celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day in its 40th year. A march began at Congo Square, traveling through Treme and the 7th Ward, making several commemorative stops along the way, concluding with the annual Elders Community Meal at the Treme Community Center. Volunteers also took part in the All In Day of Service.
ABOVE: A brass band plays in the Freedom March. STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
RIGHT: Volunteer Dominic Hogan picks up trash along a fence on Clara Street.
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Volunteer Lavonte Lucas, 25, right, paints the railings and bike racks outside the Keller Community Center on North Magnolia Street on Monday.
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
More than four years after Hurricane Ida, Louisiana’s billion-dollar program to help rebuild storm victims’ homes will soon come to an end. The state won $3.1 billion from the federal government to recover from a slew of hurricanes in 2020 and 2021, including Laura and Ida, two of the most powerful ever to hit U.S. soil. About one-third of that went to Restore, the state’s keystone program to rebuild the homes of people who didn’t have adequate insurance or otherwise had gaps in rebuilding. Gina Campo, head of the Office of Community Development, said she expects the program to wind down this year, after delivering aid to around 13,000 people. The program, which has stretched on for years after hurricanes devastated the state, illustrates the myriad roadblocks and delays involved in distributing billions in disaster aid, many of them from federal government requirements. And it came as President Donald Trump administration’s continues to debate the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with federal officials predicting states like Louisiana will be required to pick up more of the tab for future storms. “We’ve learned a lot,” said state Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, RHouma, who chairs a House panel on disaster recovery. “We definitely shouldn’t replicate Restore, but Restore established a precedent and a process that we learned from.” The long delays in getting money to people who need it largely stem from efforts to prevent fraud. Zeringue said those efforts make the program more accountable, but that the state can streamline the process next time. Nearly 40,000 people submitted surveys seeking individual aid. But only a fraction of them will ultimately receive money to rebuild. After vetting applicants, the state eventually offered funding to about 15,000. A variety of factors went into doling out the money, said Jeff Haley, deputy
ä See RECOVERY, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 60 LOW 48 PAGE 6B
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13TH yEAR, NO. 161