New Orleans Restaurants Feel Squeezed as Border Patrol Sweeps In NYT | Top Stories Shannon Sims and Allison McCann 8 December 2025 at 18:03 Ripple effects from a federal crackdown illustrate how heavily the city’s robust dining scene depends both directly and indirectly on immigrant workers. © Kathleen Flynn for The New York TimesTourists crowded Cafe du Monde in New Orleans on Saturday. Many diners in the city were unaware of the role of immigrant workers in local restaurants.