Features

NOPD Policy Betrays Immigrants –Aaron Z

This week, NOPD adopted a new policy: they will now arrest people with immigration detainers. This reverses a 2016 policy that prohibited officers from sharing data with immigration agents.

This new policy contains two key changes:

“In the event a detained individual is discovered to be subject to a Facially Sufficient detainer, officers should treat the incident as a signal 17F – fugitive attachment and take appropriate steps to transfer the custody of that individual to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office.”

That means NOPD will take a person with a facially sufficient detainer to jail to await ICE transfer.

“For purposes of this chapter, an immigration detainer is deemed facially sufficient if the officer verifies through NCIC or the issuing federal immigration agency the immigration detainer is valid.”

That means that if NCIC (a national database of warrants) or a federal agency (e.g., ICE) wants a person, NOPD will hold them.

Moreno’s administration has been downplaying these changes, instead relying on empty talking points like, “NOPD can continue to state that immigration enforcement is not the job of NOPD.” Pivoting to “immigration enforcement,” “cooperation agreements,” and “following the law” talking points feigns ignorance to dodge political accountability for what they’ve done.

When NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said in December that she would “fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s Office” after Attorney General Liz Murrill accused the department of having “sanctuary” policies, immigrant advocates implored the city not to get involved in immigration detention, asked for community input on the process, and asked for transparency, like letting the public see the policy change before it became official.

Instead, the city was facing a February deadline to demonstrate cooperation with the federal government in exchange for releasing money to the city. Unlike in San Francisco, Chicago, Massachusetts, and New York, where electeds are fighting the federal threats, New Orleans’s elected leaders chose not to fight back. They chose money over people. They chose their own careers over our families.

General Strike: The Urgency for Labor Organizing –Cody K

Amid unspeakable ICE/CBP violence, numerous Minnesota unions and community groups committed to a one-day general strike on January 23. As many as 80,000 of those Minnesotans rallied in the streets in solidarity amid sub-zero temperatures. This action delivered a shockwave to the Trump administration, now under pressure from economic leaders who fear serious consequences.

Labor unions have also been examining action at the national level. While many are aligning on the UAW-proposed May 1, 2028, date, I believe organizers should remain open-minded to the need for national action before then. Historically, general strikes often manifest as an organic public response to individual acts of vulgarity by governments and capitalist leaders.

As right-wing strategists examine how to deploy ICE to manipulate elections, I believe coming together in a general strike is our last non-violent hope of escaping total domination and abuse by our capitalist system. Luckily, union approval is historically high. At the same time, American union membership is about as low as it has ever been, and it is highly unlikely that a high volume of workers will achieve workplace contracts even by 2028.

However, this should not impede national organizing efforts. It should instead inform organizers that labor networks can be much more informal in nature, and no less powerful. In fact, the NLRA can provide more legal flexibility for workers to strike during active organizing campaigns than it can for union locals operating under no-strike clauses.

As workers and citizens, we must embrace our power to lay down our tools and refuse to participate in cruel obscenity. I am incredibly hopeful that many Americans are on the path for a mass movement for liberation. As DSA members, we cannot leave that movement up to chance. We must proceed with effort and intentionality.

Want to get involved? Send an email to hello@dsaneworleans.org or contact Labor Chair Cody K.

Labor organizing resources: www.workerorganizing.org.

Pinkwashing by Artemis B (She/Her)

New year, new Pride! Local queer groups are well on their way to Pride 2026, LGBTQ+ people across the world eagerly await June 1st, and corporations salivate at the chance to exploit the queer community yet again. On the far side of the Mediterranean Sea, Israel continues its genocide against the Palestinian people. And in our communities, local businesses continue to exploit queer people while acting in ways that directly hurt us.

To the untrained eye, these may seem disparate issues. However, one term draws them all together: Pinkwashing.

Pinkwashing has two forms. In its first, pinkwashers use the LGBTQ+ community as a shield from criticism. The archetypical example, Israel, is where the term originated. It described how Israel repeatedly positions itself as queer-friendly, while slandering Palestinians as backwards, homophobic barbarians.

This is obviously false. Gay marriage is outlawed in Israel, and LGBTQ+ folks face frequent discrimination. This argument also erases LGBTQ+ Palestinians, whom Israel murders alongside the cishet population. Nonetheless, Israel continues to try (and fail) to justify its crimes to the queer community.

In its second form, a group will exploit the queer community for profit while engaging in anti-LGBTQ+ practices. For example, in 2022, Disney faced backlash for helping fund Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Following this backlash, they ceased the funding (which has since resumed). Meanwhile, Disney maintained their façade as a queer-friendly company, continuing to host their annual Pride celebrations, and exploiting their releases of explicitly queer shows and movies to pinkwash their image.

Closer to home, a Northshore business has recently faced backlash for engaging in both forms. First, putting forward a queer-friendly face while calling trans people “Subhuman.” Then, for using their masc bartender as a shield from criticism for that statement.

This final example is the reason New Orleans DSA’s Queer Socialists Section created a map of local businesses that truly support our community, and of those that despise us. This map can be found here.

Quality, Local Education for All –Andy L

We’ve talked before about how having a municipal water system saves each of us rugged individuals from having to walk to the river every day to procure our daily supply of water. On the flip side, there’s a process unfolding that is having a reverse effect. We’ve taken something that worked well and saved us all a ton of time, and we’re breaking it apart.

When I was a kid, we all left the house at 7 in the morning, walked down to the end of the block and waited with our friends for the big yellow bus to come by and take us to school, or we just walked to school, because it was really close by. Once we were clear of the house, our parents were free to get going on their day.

Recently, I rolled by the Willow School late in the afternoon. A hundred parents were lined up along the fence waiting to pick up their child and drive home. Think about all those hours lost to all those people, day after day. The extra traffic, the car fumes, the frustration. Because we haven’t built quality neighborhood schools all across the city, everybody suffers: the kids, their parents, the neighbors, and fellow commuters.

The ‘market solution’ of charter schools hasn’t significantly improved education outcomes, but it has made people’s lives harder, forcing them to zig-zag all across the city, chasing a quality education that should be ubiquitous. This is something that we know how to do; it happens all across the country in well-resourced school districts.

Years ago, Bernie asked, “Are you willing to fight for a person you don’t know as much as you’re willing to fight for yourself?” Why can’t it be both? When we invest in each other, we invest in ourselves.

Red Rabbits Recommendation: The Comforting Resolve of Action –Andy L

In my youth, I used to laugh that in difficult times, my fellow Americans could always be counted on to do something, whether it was the right thing to do or not. But now I get it. Eons of evolution can’t be written off. Fight or flight is a real thing, and unfortunately, things that go into freeze mode sometimes get eaten. Nowadays we find that freeze response showing up as doomscrolling. It’s natural to want to know what’s happening in the world, but do all of us a favor and just pop up, take a quick look around, then get back to The Work.

Is February too soon to rework New Year’s Resolutions? If you’d like to take another swing at one, let me offer: learn the names of everyone all around your block, both sides of the street. Kids and pets as well. Storm season is less than six months away, and we’ll be talking about getting our communities ready for that in the months ahead. But let’s start out small, with knocking on the door, introducing yourself, and learning about your neighbors. Take my word for it: you will look at the world, or at least your corner of it, a whole different way once you complete this one simple task. Whose street? YOUR street! Get to it.

Bulletins

Queer Socialists Map Release

New Orleans DSA’s Queer Socialists Section has released its map of pro- and anti- LGBTQ+ businesses in the greater New Orleans Area! This map is an ongoing project which requires community support! If you know of a business that is pro- or anti-LGBTQ+, or if you are the owner of a business, please submit information to Queer Soc’s tip-line! It will be voted on at our next meeting.

Direct Service & Health Justice Brake Light Clinic This Month

On Saturday, February 21st, Direct Service & Health Justice will be hosting another bi-monthly Brake Light Clinic in Kenner! We will be joining comrades from Below Sea Level Aid and Unstoppable Kenner, as well as Kenner Coalition’s slate of City Council candidates, and voter registration services provided by Engaging New Voices and Voters. Join us for our largest and most cooperative Direct Service event of the year at 3324 Williams Blvd in the Burlington Kenner parking lot from 11-2:30. Volunteer signup link coming soon.

Support Chevron Out of French Quarter Fest

Please take 2 minutes to support Chevron Out of French Quarter Fest.

1) Find French Quarter Fest on Instagram
2) Like @chevron_out ‘s and @_noship’s comments and follow them
3) Post your own comments!

Click here for a list of example comments and instructions!

Not One Dime at Starbucks

Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) baristas continue their nationwide strike against unfair labor practices. That strike includes our local unionized Starbucks in River Ridge. Please support our striking baristas here and across the country by boycotting Starbucks donating to the workers’ solidarity fund. Baristas have been fighting for over two years for a fair contract. As participants in a wage market system, every worker has a stake in seeing the SBWU fight to the end.

Meet Comrades in Your Neighborhood Circle

Organizing is about trust, and trust gets built by showing up again and again and getting to know your neighbors. Neighborhood circles are how we connect with comrades where we live, work, or otherwise spend our time. We’re using them to host gatherings, plan events, and organize around issues in our neighborhoods. Click here to join yours today! Neighborhood circles are for members only and follow the chapter’s code of conduct and guidelines for respectful discussion.

Community Calendar

Friday, February 13

Galentine’s with Lauren J and Gaby B
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Fifi’s Bywater Salon, 3212 Dauphine St – RSVP

Saturday, February 14

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Sunday, February 15

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Monday, February 16

Krewe of Zeitoun Lundi Gras Parade
12:00 pm (wear gold and green)
700 Homer Plessy Way

Tuesday, February 17

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Wednesday, February 18

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Thursday, February 19

National Nurses Day of Action
5:00 pm
S Galvez St at Canal St

Voter Guide Team Meeting
6:00 pm
Address on Discord

Friday, February 20

Queer Soc Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Meet

Saturday, February 21

Brake Light Clinic
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
3324 Williams Blvd, Kenner

Eye on Surveillance Retreat
11:00 am – 4:00 pm
John Thompson Legacy Center, 1212 St Bernard Av – RSVP

Red Rabbits Safety Coalition Training
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – RSVP

Southern Mississippi DSA Bonfire
4:00 pm
499 Front Beach Dr, Fire Pit #42, Ocean Springs, MS

Sunday, February 22

Northshore Neighborhood Social
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
St John’s Coffeehouse, 535 E Boston St, Covington

Comms Meeting
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Healing Center, 2372 St Claude Av #258 – Meet

Chapter Orientation
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm (first and last Sunday)
Meet

Down the Road

February 28 New Orleans DSA General Meeting
March 1 Coffee with Comrades
March 15 Poli-Ed Reading Group
March 28 No Kings
June 27 New Orleans DSA Local Convention