Trump admin to open Louisiana migrant holding facility to speed up deportations
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The Trump administration plans to open a new immigration holding facility next to an airport hub in Louisiana, potentially allowing the federal government to expedite the deportation of families and unaccompanied minors.
A 528-bed holding facility will open in Alexandria, Louisiana, near Alexandria International Airport (AEX), according to The Associated Press.
Proximity to the airport is believed to make it easier for federal immigration authorities to house illegal immigrants and unaccompanied children in preparation for their final flight, the news outlet reported.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement describes the new Louisiana facility as a “staging area,” not a detention center, and says immigrants will be held there for a few days at most.
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FILE – The Trump administration plans to open a new immigrant holding facility next to an airport hub in Louisiana. (Boston Globe via John Tlumacki/Getty Images)
“England Airpark is a staging facility for deportations. A staging facility is where illegal aliens await deportation flights to their destination country or await transfer to a detention facility,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, which deferred to DHS.
While Airpark officials at the airport where the structure was built said the facility was a “humanitarian effort” for “self-deporting” families, immigration advocates say families and unaccompanied minors sometimes decide to leave due to pressure or lack of understanding of their options, the AP reported.
The facility will be located next to the country’s largest deportation centre.
There were more than 4,400 immigration enforcement flights into Alexandria International Airport last year, according to data from ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First.
ICE documents state that families and children at the facility “are in the lawful custody of ICE and may be released only upon direction of ICE.”
The agency told contractors that families at the facility should not be referred to as inmates, detainees or inmates, records show.
Contractors have been instructed not to use railings or cages when transporting families and unaccompanied children. The agency said the facility would not need to conduct a headcount and should allow families to wear their own clothing.
The facility will be located next to the country’s largest deportation centre. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Unaccompanied minors are generally not taken to facilities overseen by ICE and must instead be placed in state-licensed shelters and foster care programs run by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, but a spokesperson at the airport where the facility is being built told The Associated Press that agency is not involved in the operation of the new facility.
The facility will be managed by a not-for-profit arm of LaSalle Corrections, a private prison contractor, and could be operational as early as next month, according to Ralph Hennessy, chief executive of the UK Airpark Authority.
“These are people who are volunteering to return home, and they are returning home as a family unit,” Hennessy told the Associated Press.
Hennessy said ICE signed a contract late last month to build the facility at the former military base near Alexandria International Airport.
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ICE describes the new Louisiana facility as a “staging area,” not a detention center. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
Records show the facility will operate as a 72-hour holding center for immigrants awaiting deportation, according to the Associated Press.
LaSalle Corrections operates numerous private prisons and federal immigration detention centers in the south, including the “Louisiana Penitentiary” at Angola, the state’s maximum security prison.
The official contractor for the new ICE holding facility will be the company’s nonprofit arm, the LaSalle Family Foundation, although LaSalle Corrections itself will be involved in operating the holding facility and ensuring compliance, according to Tim Kurpiewski, the company’s chief financial officer.
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Two detainee deaths have been reported in the state since April at an ICE facility operated by LaSalle.
Winn Correctional Center was found last month to have violated standards regarding environmental health and safety, food service, use of force, medical care and other concerns, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
