Skip to main content

New Orleans police say recruit detained by ICE had been verified through agency’s system

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Police Department is denying wrongdoing after one of its recruits was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which accused the city of violating federal immigration laws.

Federal agents last month arrested New Orleans police recruit Larry Temah, a 46-year-old Cameroonian national who had received a final order of removal signed by an immigration judge in December, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Temah remains in custody and awaits deportation.

Temah was in the department’s police academy when he was detained and was several months away from graduation. He had entered the U.S. in 2015 on a valid visitor visa and received conditional residency in 2016 after marrying a U.S. citizen. In 2022, his application for permanent residency was “denied due to fraud,” according to DHS.

“Criminal illegal aliens have no place in our communities — especially on our police forces,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated Tuesday.

But New Orleans Police Department spokesperson Reese Harper said Tuesday that DHS had made “misleading” statements about Temah’s case. The department had confirmed Temah’s employment eligibility through a DHS verification system and was never notified that ICE was seeking to detain Temah until the day of his arrest, he said.

“New Orleans is not a sanctuary city,” Harper said. “Any claim that NOPD knowingly violated the law is false.”

Harper stated that the NOPD had not given Temah a gun because he was still in the process of completing the police academy.

The clash between the city and federal authorities arises in the aftermath of Operation Catahoula Crunch, a sweeping immigration crackdown centered around New Orleans that launched in December. The operation appears to be on pause after federal agents were redirected to Minneapolis in early January.

President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly accused New Orleans of undermining federal immigration enforcement, and Louisiana passed legislation seeking to force the city to collaborate with ICE. The New Orleans Police Department has said immigration enforcement is a civil matter outside its jurisdiction.

Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters last week that no issues with Temah’s legal status had emerged during the hiring process. Temah had lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years and had a valid driver’s license, Social Security card, and no criminal history, she added.

“We did the due diligence,” Kirkpatrick said during a Jan. 28 press conference.

DHS directed The Associated Press to its press release. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why Temah had been eligible for employment on ICE’s verification system or how he had engaged in fraud.

Temah could not be reached for comment. The New Orleans Police Department did not share information about Temah’s legal representation when asked and the Fraternal Order of Police in New Orleans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

___

Sara Cline contributed reporting from Baton Rouge, La.

___

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.

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Read Next Story

Related News

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

McConnell says after weeks of speculation that hospitalization was due to a fall

Obama Center opens in Chicago with a call to defend democracy and a celebrity crowd