Louisiana officials are in talks with the Trump administration about housing immigrant detainees at the State Penitentiary at Angola, part of a push to meet the demands of the U.S. president's widening immigration crackdown by outsourcing operations to conservative states, our media partners at The Advocate are reporting.
An unused wing at the maximum security prison, the nation's largest state-run penitentiary, has emerged as a possible site for the immigration lockup, according to people familiar with the talks. The move could save Louisiana costs of building a new facility like one unveiled in Florida last month, but critics contend it would place people without criminal records near others convicted of grave crimes, the newspaper reports.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the former South Dakota governor who is close with GOP Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, in July told reporters that she was "having ongoing conversations with five other governors" about opening facilities in their states modeled after the immigration lockup in Florida called "Alligator Alcatraz."
Noem said all five governors are Republicans and challenged Democrats to open similar facilities, too.
The facility in Ochopee, Florida has drawn blowback from advocates for immigrants over reports of fetid conditions since it opened in early July. Built on an airfield deep in the Everglades swamp, it is operated by the state of Florida with some oversight from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Supporters have described large populations of alligators in the surrounding swamp as a deterrent to would-be escapees, The Advocate reports.
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