Trump Administration Opens "Louisiana Lockup" at Notorious Angola Prison to Push Immigrant Self-Deportation

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, center, tours "Camp 57," a facility to house immigration detainees at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.

Gerald Herbert/AP

September 3, 2025 – Angola, LA – The Trump administration has opened a new immigration detention facility dubbed the “Louisiana Lockup” at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola, a sprawling maximum-security prison with a notorious history of violence and inhumane conditions. The move, announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday, is designed to house what officials call the “worst of the worst” immigration detainees and encourage self-deportation among migrants living in the U.S. without legal status. The facility’s opening has sparked intense controversy, with critics condemning it as a deliberate tactic to intimidate migrants and advocates warning of potential human rights violations.

The Louisiana Lockup, located in a refurbished section of Angola known as Camp J, or the “Dungeon,” currently holds 51 detainees but is expected to reach its capacity of 416 in the coming months, according to Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. The facility is part of a broader $45 billion expansion of immigration detention centers authorized by President Donald Trump in July 2025, aimed at detaining over 100,000 individuals as part of his mass deportation agenda. Camp J, once used for solitary confinement, was closed in 2018 due to deteriorating conditions but was hastily repaired following Landry’s emergency declaration in July to accommodate ICE’s needs.

“This facility will hold the most dangerous of criminals,” Noem said during a press conference on Angola’s grounds, standing beside a sign reading “Louisiana Lockup.” She openly admitted the prison’s notorious reputation was a factor in its selection, stating it was chosen “absolutely” to send a message and encourage migrants to self-deport. “If you don’t think they belong in a place like this, you’ve got a problem,” Landry added, emphasizing the administration’s tough-on-crime stance.

Angola, the largest maximum-security prison in the U.S., spans 18,000 acres along the Mississippi River and has a grim history rooted in slavery. Originally the Angola Plantation, it housed 700 enslaved people in the 1850s, forced to work grueling hours in brutal heat. After the Civil War, it became a state prison under the control of a former Confederate officer, continuing its legacy of exploitation. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was dubbed “the bloodiest prison in America” due to rampant violence, riots, and inhumane conditions. Today, it houses 6,300 inmates, many working fields under armed guard, and over 50 death row prisoners. The state’s electric chair, “Gruesome Gertie,” remains on display in the prison’s museum, and a recent execution in March 2025 used nitrogen gas.

The facility’s cells, made of cinder block with steel bars, are single-occupancy with a bed, toilet, and sink, surrounded by chain-link enclosures and five rows of barbed wire. Officials noted the presence of alligators in a nearby lake and bears in the area, further emphasizing the prison’s foreboding environment.

ICE claims the Louisiana Lockup will detain “criminal illegal aliens,” citing examples like a Venezuelan convicted of murder, a Honduran MS-13 member with domestic violence charges, and a Cuban national convicted of aggravated rape. However, immigration advocates argue that many ICE detainees nationwide lack criminal convictions, with data showing a significant portion face only civil immigration violations. The New York Times reported that recent ICE arrests include individuals with no criminal charges, raising concerns about the facility’s use for non-criminal migrants.

Critics, including the American Immigration Council, have decried the choice of Angola as cruel and potentially unconstitutional, given its history of brutality and ongoing lawsuits alleging violence and poor conditions. A 2023 lawsuit against Angola’s “farm line,” where inmates work fields in extreme heat, led to a federal order for better protections. “Housing immigrants, many of whom have committed no crimes, in a place like Angola is designed to terrorize,” said Maria Chavez, an advocate with the Louisiana Immigrant Rights Coalition. “This is about fear, not justice.”

The Louisiana Lockup is one of several new ICE facilities, following the “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida (now under court injunction), the “Cornhusker Clink” in Nebraska, and the “Speedway Slammer” in Indiana. These facilities, funded by the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” aim to add 80,000 detention beds nationwide. Louisiana, already a hub for ICE detention with nine other centers, has become central to Trump’s deportation efforts, with Alexandria, Louisiana, serving as a key deportation flight hub.

On X, reactions are sharply divided. Supporters of the administration praise the facility as a necessary step to “secure the border,” with one user posting, “Louisiana Lockup sends the right message—criminals don’t belong here.” Opponents, however, call it a “human rights disaster,” with posts warning of “cruelty by design” and comparisons to historical injustices.As the Trump administration presses forward, immigration advocates are preparing legal challenges, arguing that the use of Angola violates due process and international human rights standards. The facility’s opening underscores the administration’s aggressive immigration stance, but for many detainees, the prospect of detention in a place synonymous with suffering may indeed push them toward self-deportation—or deeper into the shadows.