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The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to deploy about 250 federal border agents to Louisiana and Mississippi in a sweeping operation aimed at arresting about 5,000 people in the two states, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing internal documents and people familiar with the operation.
According to the report, the two-month immigration initiative, dubbed a “swamp sweep,” is expected to begin Dec. 1 and will primarily focus on southeastern Louisiana. The action is one of the largest single-state deployments of immigration authorities to date under the Trump administration.
Agents are expected to arrive in New Orleans on Friday to position equipment, vehicles and other logistics before entering communities across Louisiana. The AP said the operation will extend from New Orleans through Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes and north to Baton Rouge. Additional enforcement is being planned in southeast Mississippi, although details are limited.
DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Border Patrol agents could be deployed to Louisiana and Mississippi this week as part of Trump’s sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration. (Getty Images)
“To protect law enforcement we are not going to telegraph potential operations,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the outlet.
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An aerial view of New Orleans’ downtown skyline is seen behind suburban homes on August 26, 2025. (Brandon Bell)
Spokespeople for Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves — both Republicans who have previously supported President Donald Trump and his agenda — also did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Reeves announced in August that he had “approved the deployment of approximately 200 Mississippi National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. to support President Trump’s effort to restore law and order in our nation’s capital.”
In May, Landry similarly announced a partnership with “the federal government to crack down on criminal illegal aliens in the great state of Louisiana.”
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White House border czar Tom Homan answers questions during a television interview outside the White House on September 8, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The expansions into Louisiana and Mississippi come as the Trump administration is ramping up its nationwide immigration enforcement strategy. Federal immigration officers have already been dispatched to major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and, most recently, Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told Fox News earlier Tuesday that additional operations are being prepared for New York City, indicating the crackdown is set to become more widespread in the coming weeks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
