ACLU of Louisiana Condemns Plan to House Immigrants at Notorious Angola Prison

NEW ORLEANS – The ACLU of Louisiana condemned today’s announcement by Gov. Jeff
Landry and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem that they plan to reopen Camp J, a shuttered unit at the notorious Angola prison plantation, specifically to cage immigrants.
Camp J was permanently closed after repeated findings of inhumane conditions, rampant abuse and preventable deaths. Its reopening represents a dangerous escalation in Trump’s immigrant detention and mass deportation crisis, one that has made Louisiana the nation’s epicenter of human suffering.
Gov. Landry invoked a state of emergency that expired more than a week ago to justify the move. But the truth is clear: this “emergency” was manufactured. ICE agents have deliberately ramped up immigration arrests and enforcement actions around the country, overwhelming Louisiana’s nine existing detention centers.
“This is state-sanctioned cruelty, ” said Alanah Odoms, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana.
“Using prison as a punishment for civil detainees is a horrendous abuse of executive” power.
The Governor’s suggestion that Camp J will house the “worst of the worst” is misleading and inflammatory. ACLU of Louisiana data shows more than 70 percent of people in immigration detention in Louisiana have never been convicted of any crime.
Immigration detention is a civil process to ensure court appearances, not punishment for criminal behavior. Yet this administration continues to blur the lines between civil and criminal proceedings while denying immigrants the protections afforded to those in the criminal legal system.
"Today's announcement represents a dangerous disregard of our legal system," said Nora Ahmed, legal director for the ACLU of Louisiana.
"By housing immigrants in America's most notorious prison, this administration has abandoned even the pretense that immigration detention is civil rather than criminal. If they're going to treat immigrants like convicted criminals
by locking them up in Angola, then they must provide them with the same constitutional universal protections, including the fundamental right to counsel guaranteed by the Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright. These protections can and should be easily paid for by Trump’s newly approved budget since Congress decided to pass a shocking increase of $170 billion to immigration enforcement.
"The ACLU of Louisiana filed public records requests on Aug. 11 with the Department of Corrections and the Governor’s Office demanding transparency on:

• Which private or public entities stand to profit from reopening Camp J;
• Contracts or agreements authorizing its use for immigrant detention; and
• Any communications records tied to the Governor’s Executive Order.

Those requests have gone unanswered in the midst of today's announcement.
“Louisiana should not be outsourcing human suffering behind closed doors,” said Sarah Whittington, Advocacy Director at the ACLU of Louisiana.
“We demand full transparency, accountability and an immediate reversal of this reckless decision.”
The ACLU of Louisiana calls on lawmakers and all people who believe in constitutional rights to oppose this dangerous escalation of immigrant criminalization.
Media Contact:
John Lawson, [email protected]
About the ACLU of Louisiana
The ACLU of Louisiana leads the charge to protect the civil rights and liberties of Louisianians, especially those most marginalized and historically harmed. True to our founding during the Civil Rights Movement, we are fearless in the face of intimidation and fight tirelessly to protect and empower Louisiana’s Black, Brown, Immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities. We are part of a nationwide network of affiliates working in courts, legislatures, and communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.