New Orleans has been Mardi Gras for criminals for years now. Now thanks the New Orleans Police Department, it’s about to become a fiesta for illegal aliens as well.

The NOPD now says it will no longer enforce Federal immigration laws without a warrant or a court order. The department is also hiring more officers that speak Spanish and Vietmanese and the city has installed multilingual electronic boards in City Hall.

Here’s WWL-TV:

As of Feb. 28, “Unless there is a direct threat to public safety, officers will no longer engage in the enforcement of federal immigration policy without a warrant or court order.  This new measure ensures that undocumented immigrants can interact with the local police force without fear of deportation,” said a statement from the NOPD.

“This is an incredible step in transforming New Orleans into a more inclusive city for all residents,” says Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, who authored the Council’s Welcoming Cities resolution. “Chief 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 American Chamber of Commerce.”

Here’s the question, what happens if an illegal alien is stopped for a traffic violation or is arrested on an unrelated crime? Will the NOPD refuse to hand them over the Federal law enforcement? Will they refuse to run a check on their immigration status?

It appears the NOPD and the New Orleans City Government appears to be setting up its own immigration policy. While it is inappropriate for the NOPD to actively round up illegal aliens, simply refusing to hand over illegal aliens to Federal law enforcement is also inappropriate.

Then again the laws against murder and other crimes really don’t matter in New Orleans, why should immigration laws?