The United States government began the transfer of migrants to a prison of maximum security in Louisiana, the largest in the country, where abuses against inmates and overcrowding problems have been denounced in the past.
“We will have the conditions to have here the migrants and criminals of the highest risk,” said the Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, in front of the detention center and cited a dozen names of people from various Latin American countries arrested for various crimes that have already been transferred.
Noem stressed that they are ready to transfer 200 migrants to the prison and that the governor of Louisiana is supporting to increase the capacity to 400 beds.
“The state population should not worry about these criminals, they will not bother anyone,” added the secretary.
So far, the authorities have transferred 51 migrants to the prison, known as ‘Angola’, after an agreement between the state government of Louisiana and the Trump administration, similar to those that have been signed with Florida or Indiana, to expand the ability to stop the immigration and customs control service (ICE).
After the historic allocation of funds for the Trump antimigration agenda, included in the budget package approved by Congress last July, the DHS has intensified its efforts to achieve the goal of having 80,000 additional beds for migrants arrest.
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Currently, the US maintains behind bars more than 61,200 migrants, the highest number in several years. Almost half of these, 45%, have no criminal record, according to data collected by the researcher at the University of Syracuse, Austin Kocher.
During the act, the American attorney general, Pam Bondi, said that the performance of the Louisiana authorities to enable this prison must be “an example for the rest of the country” and added that they will do “everything possible” for keeping foreign people “with crimes” outside the streets.
In Louisiana prison, migrants will be held in a colloquially known section as ‘El Calabozo’, since most cells are used for solitary confinement, according to the Fox News chain.
The prison, located near the Mississippi River, north of the state, was created at the end of the 19th century with the union of several plantations and became a forced labor prison.
Throughout its history, it has been the place of complaints of abuse such as the exploitation, abuse and death of inmates, winning the nickname of the “bloodiest” prison in the United States.
More recently, in 2023, the Association of American Civil Liberties (ACLU) filed a lawsuit for the abuse of minors who were being held there.
With EFE information.
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