Shops empty in a Hispanic neighborhood as immigration crackdown comes to Louisiana

KENNER, La. (AP) — The doors of Carmela Diaz's taco joint are locked, the tables are devoid of customers and no one is working in the kitchen. It's one of many once-thriving Hispanic businesses, from Nicaraguan eateries to Honduran restaurants, emptied out in recent weeks in neighborhoods with lots of signs in Spanish but increasingly fewer people on the streets.

In the city of Kenner, which has the highest concentration of Hispanic residents in Louisiana, a federal immigration crackdown aiming for 5,000 arrests has devastated an economy already struggling from ramped-up enforcement efforts this year, some business owners say, and had far-reaching impacts on both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.

“Fewer and fewer people came,” said a crying Diaz, whose Taqueria La Conquistadora has been closed for several weeks now with both customers and workers afraid to leave home. “There were days we didn’t sell anything. That’s why I made the decision to close the business — because there was no business.”

On Wednesday, convoys of federal vehicles began rumbling back and forth down Kenner's main commercial streets as the Department of Homeland Security commenced the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations that have included surges in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina. Bystanders have posted videos of federal agents detaining people outside Kenner businesses and at construction sites.

Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino also made an appearance in the city, surrounded by agents in tactical gear, to tout to reporters the launch of the operation dubbed Catahoula Crunch, a name derived from the big game hound that is the Louisiana state dog.

The state's Hispanic population has boomed in the last two decades, with many of them arriving in the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild. In Kenner, just west of New Orleans between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, Hispanics make up about 30% of residents.

Diaz, who is from El Salvador, arrived in 2006 after years of doing farm work in Texas. She opened food trucks, earning enough to buy a home in Kenner, and her business has since expanded to a fleet of trucks and two brick-and-mortar restaurants.

Nearly all that is shuttered at the moment because of the crackdown, and Diaz is scraping by through making home deliveries to people fearful of being swept up by agents regardless of their legal status.

“They don’t respect anyone,” Diaz said. “They don’t ask for documents. They don’t investigate. They slap the handcuffs on them and take them away.”

Mayra Pineda, CEO of the Louisiana Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a Kenner resident for decades, fears for the future if the crackdown continues for months as planned.

“How are these business owners going to survive?” she said. “I don’t know. But let’s be clear — it’s not only on the Hispanic community but bad for all of us, for the economy in general.”

Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley described the federal immigration operation as a “prayer answered for us.”

The chief said while crime is decreasing in the city, he has raised concerns about violent crimes involving immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally. The police department shared a dozen press releases documenting crimes – between 2022 and 2025 – where they say the person arrested had entered the country illegally. The cases included sex crimes, a murder, gang activity and shootings.

Based on the most recent crime report published by the Louisiana Statistical Analysis Center, in 2023 in Kenner a total of 4,436 total “offenses” were committed, which included 863 “crimes against persons.”

Conley said that while violent crimes are concerning, one of the “blights" that “we see and feel every day” are traffic stops and car accidents, that involve drivers who are illegal immigrants that are uninsured and unlicensed.

State Sen. Kirk Talbot, a Republican who represents a portion of Kenner, said he believes the federal operation will ultimately “benefit the city” and that residents who are in the U.S. legally have “nothing to be afraid of.”

“I think the people that come here illegally – who flee authorities and, especially, ones that have criminal records -- need to obey the law and they need to be caught and deported,” Talbot said.

While Kenner has closely worked with federal immigration agents before, especially under the 287(g) program that allows local police to question the immigration status of suspects in their custody, Conley said local officers are not currently aiding in the federal operation. However, he said, the department is ready to assist in the operation if asked.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Thursday that federal agents have already made dozens of arrests, though the agency has not released a full list of people detained.

“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens harming them, their families, or their neighbors,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “In just 24 hours on the ground, our law enforcement officers have arrested violent criminals with rap sheets that include homicide, kidnapping, child abuse, robbery, theft, and assault.”

The office of Mayor Michael Glaser, a former police chief, declined to comment on his stance on the operation. But it said the crackdown “falls under federal jurisdiction” and the mayor expects all agencies operating in the city to conduct themselves “professionally, lawfully and with respect for our community.”

However, the city's police are among the hundreds of local and state law enforcement agencies nationwide that have signed agreements to be part of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program that authorizes them to hold detainees for potential deportation.

Sergio Perez, a Guatemalan immigrant and U.S. citizen who has lived in Kenner since 2010, said he has loved ones there who lack legal permission to be in the country and risk being detained or deported. He also worries that anyone who is Hispanic is at risk of abuse by federal agents, regardless of their immigration status.

While Perez considers Kenner home — a place where it is easy to find favorite dishes like “caldo de res,” a hearty beef and vegetable stew — he is prepared to leave the country if family members are deported.

“They don’t want us here,” Perez said. “It’s like you are in someone’s house and you don’t feel welcome. They’re just killing our spirit.”

Cline reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Associated Press writer Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed.

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Customs and Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino walks with border patrol agents through a neighborhood during an immigration crackdown, in Kenner, La., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Carmela Diaz speaks inside her closed restaurant in the midst of a Customs and Border Protection immigration crackdown in Kenner, La., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrive at a Home Depot in Kenner, La.,Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A Customs and Border Protection agent exits a vehicle after agents apprehended two people during an operation Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in Kenner, La. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Carmela Diaz poses inside her closed restaurant in the midst of a Customs and Border Protection immigration crackdown in Kenner, La., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Carmela Diaz speaks inside her closed restaurant in the midst of a Customs and Border Protection immigration crackdown in Kenner, La., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Unrelenting Iranian attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure pushed oil above $100 a barrel on Thursday, as American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight.

Iran hit a container ship off the coast of Dubai, caused a blaze near Bahrain's international airport, targeted a major Saudi oil field with a drone attack and forced Iraq to halt operations at all the country's oil terminals after an attack on its port of Basra on the Persian Gulf.

Iran flouted a United Nations Security Council resolution from the previous day demanding that it halt strikes on its Gulf neighbors with new attacks also reported in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Sirens wailed before dawn in Jerusalem after Israel said it was working to intercept missiles launched from Iran. The country also announced it had begun a “wide-scale wave of strikes” on Tehran. In Lebanon, where Israel says it is targeting Iran-linked Hezbollah militants, 11 people were killed in two early morning strikes.

Since the United States and Israel sparked with war with a Feb. 28 attack on Iran, Tehran has embarked on a campaign generated at inflicting enough global economic pain to pressure them to relent in their attacks.

In addition to attacking energy infrastructure around the region, Iran has a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway leading from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported.

With traffic in the Strait effectively stopped, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose another 9% on Thursday to more than $100 a barrel, up some 38% over what it cost when the war started.

The U.N. refugee agency meanwhile said up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced by the ongoing war. It said most have fled from Tehran and other major cities toward the north of the country or rural areas.

The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to approve a resolution demanding a halt to Iran’s “egregious attacks” on its Gulf neighbors, but Tehran showed no signs of changing its strategy.

As the day began Thursday, a container ship in the Persian Gulf was hit with a projectile off the coast of Dubai, sparking a small fire, according to British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center. It said the crew of the vessel were safe.

In Bahrain, an early Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Muharraq Island, home to the country's international airport. Authorities urged people to stay indoors and close windows to avoid smoke. The airport has jet fuel tanks, and other tanks in the area serve the kingdom’s oil industry.

Kuwait's Defense Ministry said an Iranian drone smashed into a residential building, wounding two people, the UAE said it had activated air defenses twice to protect Dubai from attacks, and firefighters extinguished a blaze at a tower in Dubai Creek Harbor after a drone hit.

Saudi Arabia said it had shot down a drone targeting the diplomatic quarter of the capital, Riyadh, and also reported downing drones in kingdom’s east, including at least one trying to target its Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter desert.

Following an attack on Iraq's Basra port that killed at least one person, officials said Thursday that it had been forced to halt operations at all the country's oil terminals.

Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, said the attack targeted a vessel in a ship-to-ship transfer area of the Persian Gulf port.

Sirens wailed and loud explosions were heard shortly after midnight in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. The Israeli military said it was responding with another “wide-scale wave of strikes” in Tehran.

Overnight missile launches from Iran and Hezbollah also sent Israelis to shelters in multiple other areas, including Tel Aviv and the northern border with Lebanon.

An Israeli strike hit a car Thursday in Ramlet al-Bayda, a major seaside tourist area of Beirut where dozens of displaced people have been sheltering. Eight people were killed and 31 others were wounded, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The Israeli military press office told The Associated Press it was “not aware” of a strike at that location.

In Aramoun, a town about 10 kilometers (six miles) south of Beirut, another three people were killed and a child was wounded in another early Israeli attack.

At least 634 people have been killed in Lebanon since the latest fighting began, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Wednesday.

The U.N. refugee agency said at least 759,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon.

Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed there, and Israel has reported 12 people dead. The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.

Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, also contributed to this report, along with AP journalists around the world.

Israeli authorities inspect homes damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israel Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks during a meeting of the Security Council at U.N. headquarters, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A family enjoys the sunset with the view of the city skyline and Burj Khalifa, at Dubai Creek Harbour in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Smoke rises after an explosion at the airport in Irbil, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A man inspects a car damaged in an Israeli airstrike at the Ramlet al-Baida public beach in Beirut, Lebanon, early Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)