\n<\/p>\n
NEW ORLEANS — <\/span>The Louisiana National Guard announced Monday that 120 troops will remain deployed in New Orleans through August. <\/p>\n The six-month extension comes after 350 Guard members deployed to New Orleans in late December<\/a>, in the run-up to New Year’s and other high-profile events like the Sugar Bowl. The troops, which had mainly clustered in the city’s historic French Quarter, had been scheduled to depart in the aftermath of Mardi Gras<\/a>.<\/p>\n New Orleans is one of several Democrat-run cities, such as Washington<\/a> and Memphis, Tennessee,<\/a> where the federal government deployed armed troops under the administration of President Donald Trump. Hundreds of federal agents also converged on Louisiana in December as part of a separate immigration crackdown<\/a> in and around New Orleans.<\/p>\n During his State of the Union address last week, Trump touted the deployment in New Orleans as a \u201cbig success.” In January, Trump credited the troops with reducing the city’s violent crime<\/a> within a week of their deployment. City police data shows violent crime rates have significantly declined<\/a> over the past three years in parallel with national trends.<\/p>\n According to a press statement from the Louisiana National Guard, the remaining guard members will serve as a “visible presence to deter criminal activity in New Orleans.\u201d<\/p>\n New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat who initially opposed the deployment, said that the troops would benefit the city in the coming weeks. She pointed out that National Guard troops had assisted the city during last year’s Mardi Gras in the aftermath of a vehicle-ramming attack<\/a> in the French Quarter that killed 14 people on New Year’s Day.<\/p>\n \u201cI continue to support the partnership with the LA National Guard to assist in our major events and there are several coming up in the next few weeks,\u201d Moreno said in a statement.<\/p>\n While Moreno did not address which events she referred to, visitors flock to New Orleans in the spring for events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and staunch Trump ally, requested the deployment<\/a> of the National Guard last September, citing rising violent crime rates in New Orleans despite the data showing crime was down<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis continued deployment will help us combat violence in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana,\u201d Landry wrote on the social platform X on Monday, noting Louisiana had also sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., last year.<\/p>\n Kate Kelly, a spokesperson for Landry, said the federal government would cover the cost of the extended deployment. She did not respond to a question about whether Guard members would be deployed outside New Orleans.<\/p>\n Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of the Louisiana National Guard, said in a statement the troops had already worked closely with other city, state and federal agencies to improve public safety during a stretch of high-profile events in the city, including the flood of visitors over Mardi Gras and the city’s carnival season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain committed to those partnerships as we continue supporting efforts to keep the City of New Orleans safe for residents and visitors,\u201d Friloux said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America<\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n