Noem boasts of horrific conditions at new ICE detention facility at Louisiana prison
Angola, Louisiana - The Trump administration has announced the opening of a new immigration detention facility at Louisiana maximum-security Angola prison – an infamous locations chosen deliberatly.
A new US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, dubbed "Louisiana Lockup," is set to open on the grounds of Angola – a move Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said is designed to encourage people to "self-deport."
The Louisiana State Penitentiary, aka Angola, is the site of a former plantation and is known as one of the most brutal prisons in the US.
The around 6,300 people incarcerated at Angola are majority Black. Many are forced to labor in the fields for little to no pay while armed guards on horseback look on.
"Absolutely, this is a facility that's notorious. It's a facility – Angola prison is legendary – but that's a message that these individuals that are going to be here that are illegal criminals need to understand," Noem said during a press conference.
According to the Associated Press, 51 immigrants are already being held at Angola, though the number is expected to grow to over 400 in the coming months.
Louisiana's Republican Governor Jeff Landry posted on X, "The Louisiana Lockup is OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Those who enter our country illegally, then commit heinous crimes against Americans will suffer the consequences."
Last month, a federal judge ordered much of the Trump administration's "Alligator Alcatraz" facility in Florida to be dismantled following a lawsuit filed by environmental groups.
Cover photo: Matthew HINTON / AFP