In a move that has sparked immediate controversy, leaked documents have revealed plans by Donald Trump's administration to convert the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola into a massive immigration detention centre if he returns to the White House.
The proposals, obtained by The Guardian, outline how US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would utilise the nation's largest maximum-security prison to hold thousands of migrants awaiting processing or deportation.
A Troubled History
Angola prison carries a dark legacy, having operated as a brutal plantation-style prison where inmates once picked cotton under the watch of armed guards on horseback. The facility, which spans an area larger than Manhattan, has been described by critics as a modern-day remnant of slavery due to its history and predominantly Black population.
Civil rights advocates have expressed alarm at the proposal, noting that converting a prison with such a troubled history into an immigration facility raises serious human rights concerns.
The ICE Expansion Plan
According to the documents, the plan involves creating dedicated detention space within the Angola complex specifically for ICE operations. This would represent a significant expansion of Trump's immigration enforcement apparatus, which during his first term saw a dramatic increase in detention numbers.
The proposals suggest this would allow the administration to rapidly scale up detention capacity without needing to construct new facilities from scratch.
Legal and Ethical Concerns
Immigration advocates have condemned the plan, arguing that detaining migrants—including asylum seekers and families—in a maximum-security prison environment is inappropriate and potentially unlawful.
"This represents a new low in the treatment of vulnerable migrants," said one rights campaigner. "Placing people who have committed no crimes in a facility designed for the most dangerous criminals is both morally wrong and legally questionable."
The development comes as Trump continues to campaign on a platform of aggressive immigration enforcement, promising the largest deportation operation in American history if elected.
