SUMMARY: Louisiana officials, including Archbishop Gregory Aymond and Governor Jeff Landry, have expressed condolences following the death of Pope Francis, who served as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church for 12 years. Pope Francis passed away shortly after delivering his final Easter Mass on April 20. Leaders highlighted his compassion, humility, and dedication to the marginalized. Congressman Troy Carter praised the Pope’s unwavering moral clarity, while Senator Bill Cassidy noted his focus on mercy. Local representatives shared personal memories, acknowledging the profound impact Pope Francis had on global communities and his leadership in promoting justice, mercy, and peace.

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SUMMARY: Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, passed away at 88, marking the end of a transformative papacy that began in 2013. Known for his humility and dedication to the poor, he engaged with global issues like capitalism and climate change, which alienated some conservatives. He had recently faced health challenges, including chronic lung disease and double pneumonia. His approachable style included riding in an open-air car and washing prisoners’ feet. He advocated for tolerance within the Church, notably addressing LGBTQ+ issues and emphasizing zero tolerance for child sex abuse. His legacy will continue to impact the Catholic Church and the world.

Church bells tolled in mourning. Well-wishers flocked into pews. Tributes to Pope Francis poured in from around the world on Monday after the Vatican announced the pontiff’s death at age 88.

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by Bobbi-Jean Misick, Verite, Louisiana Illuminator
April 20, 2025

NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is pushing forward with her efforts to force Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson to drop a longtime policy that generally prohibits deputies from directly engaging in federal immigration enforcement within the city’s jail.

In legal filings, Murrill claims the policy — which the state characterizes as a so-called “sanctuary city” policy —  is in direct conflict with a newly passed state law that requires state and local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration agencies.

“The consent decree now sits fundamentally at odds with state law as applicable to immigration detainers,” Murrill said in court documents filed Friday (April 11).

A federal court will now determine whether to allow the state of Louisiana to join a 2011 federal suit that resulted in the policy and whether to throw out the policy altogether. A hearing has been set for April 30.

The state’s campaign against “sanctuary” policies comes as President Donald Trump is pushing local law enforcement agencies to join the federal government in his promised immigration crackdown. Since his inauguration, Trump has ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to push for more partnerships between local law enforcement units and federal immigration agencies. A few have already signed up. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a longtime immigration hardliner and Trump ally, has worked with Republican lawmakers in the state to enact laws that encourage those collaborations.

As attorney general, Landry criticized a policy adopted by the New Orleans Police Department, under a long-running federal consent decree that blocks officers from enforcing immigration laws.

Neither Murrill’s office nor representatives for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded to requests for comment.

In court filings, Murrill said Hutson “does not oppose the [state’s] intervention” in the case.” But a spokesperson for Hutson said that’s not exactly true.

“It’s more accurate that we take no position regarding the state intervention,” a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

While she has not taken a position for or against increased collaboration with ICE, in an interview with Fox 8 in December, Hutson noted that the jail’s resources were far too stretched to take on immigration enforcement.

“I’m a lawyer. I believe in following the law and court orders and we do that and so that’s what we’re gonna do, continue to follow the law, but I cannot do ICE’s work,” she said. “It’s too big of a load.”

Potential conflict

The sheriff’s policy stems from a 2013 federal court settlement in a civil rights case involving two New Orleans construction workers picked up on minor charges in 2009 and 2010.

Mario Cacho and Antonio Ocampo sued after they were allegedly illegally held in the city’s jail past the completion of their sentences. The two were held at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency issues such “detainer” requests to local law enforcement agencies, asking them to hold onto arrestees who are suspected of immigration violations.

Local agencies are only supposed to honor the hold requests for 48 hours, after which they should let detainees free. But in 2009 and 2010, then-Sheriff Marlin Gusman detained Cacho and Ocampo for months, according to legal filings in their case against the office.

Ocampo and Cacho settled the case with the Sheriff’s Office in 2013, and Gusman agreed to adopt a new policy on immigration investigations. The resulting policy blocks the agency from investigating immigration violations and from detaining immigrants for ICE without a court order, except in certain cases where they are facing charges for a small number of serious violent crimes.

Attorneys for Cacho and Ocampo declined to speak with Verite News on the record. However, filings they submitted to the court last week opposing the state’s intervention in the case argue  that Murrill has “blatantly misrepresented the OPSO policy” by falsely claiming it forces the Sheriff’s Office to disregard all ICE detainers.

The sheriff’s office, like the NOPD, has been under a sweeping federal consent decree for more than a decade. But unlike the NOPD, the jail’s consent decree does not demand that deputies stay away from federal immigration enforcement, only that it release anyone subject to an immigration hold after two days. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which is a party to both consent decrees, has not entered any filings since Murrill moved to bring the state into the Cacho and Ocampo case.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.

The OPSO policy remained in place for more than a decade without any controversy until last spring, when the Louisiana Legislature passed a bill — Act 314 — that blocks so-called “sanctuary” policies prohibiting state and local law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration agencies like ICE.

A sheriff’s office spokesperson spokesperson said the agency’s policy on ICE detainers is “governed” by the consent judgement in the case. She declined to comment further, as the state is currently challenging the policy, but affirmed that OPSO is “in full compliance with all applicable state laws and valid court orders related to ICE detainers.”

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Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.