Louisiana Lockup: DHS expands immigration detention at Angola prison

The federal government is taking yet another swing at immigration enforcement

and its landing in one of Louisiana's most infamous prisons. This facility is designed to hold the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens

Federal and state officials, including Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, say Angola is being repurposed to house immigrants with criminal convictions

The Democrats' open border policies have allowed for the illegal entry of violent criminals, rapists, child predators, human traffickers, and drug dealers who have left the path of destruction and death throughout America

Dubbed Louisiana lockup, Landry says it's a step toward improving public safety

Angola is the nation's largest maximum security prison, spanning 18,000 acres with wildlife and multiple escape deterrents

It's been long tied to harsh conditions and a troubled past. Before, called Camp J, has been now repurposed into an ICE detention facility

But not just a typical ICE detention facility that you may see in another state somewhere else in this country

The new immigration unit will hold only men separate from the existing state prison population

The facility will hold 208 detainees by mid with capacity expected to rise above 400 Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said 51 detainees are already in place including those with sentences for sex

crimes, burglary, drug offenses, and violent acts. Funding from President Trump's one big

beautiful bill made the facility possible, providing financing for Louisiana and tens

of thousands of additional detention beds across the U.S. The administration has used high-profile

centers to signal that crime won't be tolerated, including the Everglades facility known as

Alligator Alcatraz, which a judge ordered to shut down. New sites like Indiana's Speedway Slammer

and Nebraska's Cornhusker Clink are also in development. Angola started as the Angola

Plantations in the early 1800s, named after the African homeland of enslaved Africans

In 1880, Confederate Major Samuel James turned the plantation into a prison camp

using the existing slave quarters. Black inmates were subleased for forced labor

while white inmates were often given skilled tasks. Louisiana purchased the property in 1901

operating it as a state penitentiary. Angola made headlines for brutal conditions and the

Angola Three, three black men held in solitary confinement for decades, sparking debate on racial injustice and prison reform. Read more of the story right now on the

Straight Arrow News mobile app or by visiting san.com. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey