The Trump administration is preparing to open a 528-bed holding facility for migrant families and unaccompanied children near Alexandria, Louisiana, positioning the government to accelerate deportations. The facility is slated to be located next to Alexandria International Airport, which has become the nation's largest hub for deportation flights.
The new center, described by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a "staging area," is intended to reduce logistical challenges associated with transporting children from shelters and foster homes across the country for deportation. Officials stated that individuals would only be held for a few days at most.
However, immigration advocates have voiced concerns that children could be held at the facility for extended periods, potentially weeks or months. Leecia Welch, chief legal counsel at nonprofit Children's Rights, expressed apprehension that the facility represents an "expansion of the deportation system in ways we haven’t seen before" and that "so much that could go wrong with this facility."
Unaccompanied children in the U.S. without parents or close relatives are legally required to be placed in the care of state-licensed shelters and foster care programs overseen by the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the Department of Health and Human Services. However, this agency is not involved in the operation of the Alexandria facility.
The holding center is set to be operated by the LaSalle Family Foundation, a nonprofit arm of private prison contractor LaSalle Corrections. According to Ralph Hennessy, executive director of the England Airpark Authority, the facility could be operational as early as August. ICE officials signed a contract for the facility's construction late last month on a former military base near the airport, approximately 175 miles northwest of New Orleans.
Records obtained by the Associated Press indicate the facility would function as a 72-hour holding center for migrants awaiting deportation. Compass Connections, a Texas-based nonprofit that had initially been tapped to help operate the facility, has since withdrawn from the plans.
Officials at the airpark described the facility as a "humanitarian effort" for families "self-deporting." However, immigration advocates argue that families and unaccompanied children may choose to return home under pressure or due to a lack of understanding of their legal options.
More than 4,400 immigration enforcement flights entered and departed Alexandria International Airport in 2025, according to data from ICE Flight Monitor. Planning documents from ICE state that families and children at the facility will remain in the agency's legal custody until released at its direction. ICE has instructed contractors not to refer to individuals as prisoners, detainees, or inmates and to avoid using bars or cages during transport. Families will be allowed to wear their own clothes, and the facility will not be required to conduct headcounts.
LaSalle Corrections operates several private prisons and federal immigration detention centers in the South. Concerns have been raised regarding the company's operations, including the reported deaths of two detainees at a LaSalle-run ICE facility in Louisiana since April. Additionally, a June report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General found that the Winn Correctional Center, also run by LaSalle, had violated standards related to environmental health and safety, food service, use-of-force, and medical care.