A new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility is planned to open in Alexandria, Louisiana, to hold migrant families and unaccompanied children. The facility, which will have 528 beds, is intended to speed up deportations by providing a staging area for families and children near an airport hub.

Facility Operations

The facility will be run by LaSalle Corrections, a private prison company, through its nonprofit arm, the LaSalle Family Foundation. According to ICE officials, the facility will operate as a 72-hour holding center for migrants awaiting deportation.

Immigration advocates have expressed concerns that children could be held at the new facility for weeks or months, despite ICE’s claims that people will only be there for a few days at most. These advocates are also concerned about oversight and the potential for the facility to become a detention center in all but name.

Location and Logistics

The facility will be located next to the Alexandria International Airport, which is a major hub for deportation flights. In 2025, over 4,400 immigration enforcement flights came into and out of the airport, according to data from the ICE Flight Monitor.

The location is intended to simplify the process of deporting migrant families and unaccompanied children by reducing the need to transport them from foster homes and shelters across the country. However, critics argue that the facility represents a departure from the government’s usual approach to managing these populations.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.