US To Open Massive Detention Centre To Speed Up Deportations
- The Trump administration plans to open a 528-bed holding facility for migrant families and unaccompanied children
- ICE signed a contract to build the facility at a former military base, with operations potentially beginning as early as August 2026
- Immigration advocates warned that children could be held for weeks or months at the new site, calling it an unprecedented expansion
- YEN.com.gh spoke to immigration lawyer Akua Poku, who shared insights into deportation and ICE arrests in the US
The Trump administration is moving to open a 528-bed holding facility for migrant families and unaccompanied children near Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana, according to a report by ABC News published on 6 July 2026.
The facility, located at a former military base roughly 175 miles northwest of New Orleans, is designed to address logistical gaps that have complicated the deportation process.
Source: Getty Images
By positioning the site adjacent to an airport, authorities aim to avoid the difficulties that arise when children must be collected from foster homes and shelters scattered across the country with little notice before deportation flights.
ICE speaks on detention facility
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has described the facility as a "staging area" and says those held there would remain for no more than a few days.
Records obtained by the Associated Press indicate it is intended to function as a 72-hour holding centre for migrants awaiting removal.
Ralph Hennessy, executive director of the England Airpark Authority, confirmed that ICE officials signed a contract late last month and said the site could become operational as early as August.
The facility will be run by a nonprofit arm of LaSalle Corrections, a private prison contractor.
Under existing US law, unaccompanied minors are required to be placed swiftly into state-licensed shelters and foster care programmes rather than ICE-run facilities.
Concerns about the detention centre
Immigration advocates have raised serious concerns about the new facility. Leecia Welch, chief legal counsel at the nonprofit Children's Rights, said the development signals a major shift in how the government handles vulnerable migrants.
"It's an expansion of the deportation system in ways we haven't seen before," Welch said. "There's just so much that could go wrong with this facility."
Source: Getty Images
Advocates cautioned that children could end up being held for weeks or months rather than the few days ICE has indicated, pointing to similar patterns at other federal immigration holding sites.
Oversight remains another key concern, given the absence of the usual child welfare agencies from the facility's operations.
The announcement follows a chaotic episode last year in which Guatemalan children were woken in the middle of the night and transported to Harlingen, Texas, where they waited on an airport tarmac for hours before a federal judge blocked their deportation.
That incident exposed the operational gaps that the new Louisiana facility is intended to resolve.
Below is the X post by ABC announcing plans to build a detention centre for pending deportees.
Mistakes that lead to deportation
YEN.com.gh contacted Akua Poku, a US-based immigration lawyer and founder of AK Poku Law, for her expert views. She explained that the primary cause of deportation is immigration violations.
"Having an immigration application denied due to errors, lack of knowledge, or immigration fraud, and then falling out of status, can lead to being referred to immigration court or ICE."
US to deport 355 West Africans
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the US announced that 355 people from West Africa are set to be deported from the country.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the names and photos of those to be deported, sparking reactions across the affected West African countries.
Source: YEN.com.gh
