Lt. Gov Billy Nungesser blasts Border Patrol operation in Louisiana: 'There's a better way

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Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser on Wednesday said Border Patrol's mass sweeps in the state's neighborhoods have stoked fear among residents and disrupted the state's labor force.

Nungesser said that he has received "a dozen calls" from business owners in the state who are facing labor shortages as workers with valid work permits remain at home out of fear of being detained by immigration agents.

"They said 'we're getting rid of the criminals,'" said Nungesser in an interview Wednesday. "These people, a lot of them have played by the rules and have a work visa and now are fearful."

The Department of Homeland Security has identified its target as immigrants without legal status and with criminal histories. However, law enforcement records obtained by the Associated Press show that less than a third of the 38 arrests that occurred in the first two days of the operation involved people with criminal records beyond traffic violations. Officials have not released the total number of arrests so far.

"I've got to believe there's a better way," said Nungesser, who serves as the second-highest ranking elected official in state government. "We all want the criminals gone ... that they're pulling these people out of homes — I just don't know. And especially during Christmastime — it's not a good situation."

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Nungesser also said that he had tried to get a meeting with Landry for "three months" to discuss this and a number of issues and has "not been successful."

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