Advertisement NOPD stops enforcing federal immigration laws as part of new bias-free policy Share Shares Copy Link Copy

New Orleans police officers will no longer enforce federal immigration laws without a warrant or a court order as part of its new bias-free immigration policy.The change has been in the works at the New Orleans Police Department and went into effect Sunday. Officials said the policy is intended to improve relations between immigrant communities and the police department.“This is an incredible step in transforming New Orleans into a more inclusive city for all residents,” said Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, who authored the council’s "Welcoming Cities" resolution. “Chief (Michael) Harrison truly stepped up to get this new policy in effect, and none of this would have been possible without years of work from the council, the administration and our many immigrant support groups, including the Congress of Day Laborers, Puentes New Orleans and the Asian Chamber of Commerce.”Related: NOPD begins effort to build team of bilingual officers across police forceNOPD officials said the new policy means that unless there is a direct threat to public safety, officers will no longer enforce federal immigration laws without a warrant or a court order. City leaders said the new policy ensures that undocumented immigrants can interact with police officers without fear of deportation.The City Council passed the Welcoming Cities resolution in October. It establishes numerous benchmarks for enhancing city services for all residents regardless of race, ethnicity or immigration status. "Improving police and community relations is one of the benchmarks, and the bias-free immigration policy demonstrates a concrete example of the resolution’s success," city officials said in a news release.Read: New Orleans improves City Hall to welcome multilingual speakersThe new policy comes as the NOPD works to train and hire more police officers with Spanish and Vietnamese language skills. The effort is to give residents and visitors access to the police department regardless of their language or background.New electronic and multilingual static boards were added to the lobby of City Hall to make it easier for residents to locate specific documents.