Trump Administration Plans to Open a New ICE Detention Facility for Migrant Families in Louisiana

The Trump administration is opening a 528-bed ICE holding facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, to speed up deportations of migrant families and children. Located at the nation's largest deportation airport hub, the center is meant to solve logistical issues. Immigration advocates express concern over a lack of oversight and the facility's operator, LaSalle Corrections, which has a history of safety violations and detainee deaths.

Alexandria facility opening

• ▪The new facility is located at a former military base next to Alexandria International Airport.
• ▪The Trump administration plans to open a 528-bed holding facility for migrant families and unaccompanied children in Alexandria, Louisiana.
• ▪The facility could become operational as early as August, following a contract signed by ICE in late June.

Deportation logistics challenges

• ▪Alexandria International Airport is the largest U.S. hub for deportations, with over 4,400 immigration enforcement flights in 2025.
• ▪The Alexandria facility is intended to speed up deportations by resolving logistical challenges of gathering migrants for flights.
• ▪A chaotic 2025 deportation attempt of Guatemalan children in Harlingen, Texas, highlighted the logistical problems authorities faced.

ICE facility operations

• ▪Airpark officials have called the facility a "humanitarian effort" for families who are "self-deporting."
• ▪ICE has instructed contractors not to use bars or cages for transport and to allow families to wear their own clothes.
• ▪Official records state the facility will operate as a 72-hour holding center for migrants awaiting deportation.
• ▪ICE describes the facility as a "staging area" for stays of a few days at most, not a detention center.

Oversight concerns

• ▪Immigration advocates say families and children sometimes agree to "self-deport" under pressure or due to a lack of understanding of their options.
• ▪Advocates, including Leecia Welch of Children’s Rights, have expressed concerns about a lack of oversight at the facility.
• ▪Immigration advocates are concerned that children could be held at the new facility for weeks or months.

LaSalle Corrections involvement

• ▪LaSalle Corrections will be directly involved in operating the facility and ensuring compliance.
• ▪Since April, two detainee deaths have been reported at another LaSalle-run ICE facility in Louisiana.
• ▪The facility will be run by the LaSalle Family Foundation, the nonprofit arm of private prison contractor LaSalle Corrections.
• ▪In June, a Department of Homeland Security report found that another LaSalle facility, Winn Correctional Center, violated multiple standards.

Unaccompanied children custody

• ▪According to planning documents, families and children at the facility will be in the legal custody of ICE.
• ▪Federal law requires unaccompanied children to be placed in state-licensed shelters overseen by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
• ▪The Office of Refugee Resettlement is not involved in the operation of the new Alexandria facility.

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