U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a New Orleans Police Department recruit this week after an immigration judge signed a removal order in December, according to the city’s police superintendent. The superintendent said the department had no indication during hiring that the recruit lacked legal status.
Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick stated that ICE agents took the recruit into custody on Wednesday while he was attending the police academy. “We learned about it this morning,” Kirkpatrick said. “There was no struggle involved. The recruit was taken into custody without any incident.”
Kirkpatrick did not identify the recruit and referred questions about his identity to ICE. ICE did not immediately respond to local media inquiries. Fox News reported that they reached out to ICE for more details.
Kirkpatrick mentioned that the recruit applied to join the department in June 2025 and passed the department’s hiring checks, including federal employment verification. She noted that the recruit provided a valid driver’s license and a Social Security number and passed the E-Verify screening used to confirm work eligibility.
🚨BREAKING: DEI Democrat run New Orleans Police caught again hiring illegal aliens as cops.
Today ICE arrested another police recruit. pic.twitter.com/92a2AI5LgN
— Dapper Detective (@Dapper_Det) January 29, 2026
“There was nothing in the personnel packet that would give us reason to believe this person did not have legal status,” Kirkpatrick said. She added that there are questions that may have come up later.
Kirkpatrick noted that ICE informed the department that an immigration judge signed a removal order on December 5, 2025, several months after the recruit was hired. “The order of removal occurred after we had already hired him,” she said. WDSU reported that the order came from an immigration judge in Atlanta.
Kirkpatrick stated that the recruit had lived in the United States for about 10 years and had previously lived in Georgia. She mentioned that the department conducted standard criminal background checks, including searches through the National Crime Information Center database, and found no criminal history. Kirkpatrick added that the ICE field director confirmed to her that the recruit had no criminal record.
“He cleared that,” Kirkpatrick said, referring to the department’s screening process.
Kirkpatrick explained that the recruit would not receive a bond hearing and would begin removal proceedings. “I have been told that he will not be given a bond hearing and that he will be in the process of a removal,” she said.
Kirkpatrick told local media that the department reviewed the recruit’s file after learning of the detention and found nothing during the hiring process that indicated an immigration issue. WDSU reported that the recruit remained in custody without bond as the removal process began.
The detention occurs as the New Orleans Police Department continues to rebuild staffing in a city that has faced ongoing recruitment and retention challenges. Fox 8 reported that Kirkpatrick said the department has struggled for years with manpower issues, and she focused on how the department handled its hiring checks after learning of the ICE action.
Kirkpatrick added that the department intends to work with federal officials to better understand what to look for in future hiring when applicants present documents and clear standard employment verification checks.
