00:00The federal government is taking yet another swing at immigration enforcement and its landing in one of Louisiana's most infamous prisons.
00:10This facility is designed to hold the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.
00:18Federal and state officials, including Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, say Angola is being repurposed to house immigrants with criminal convictions.
00:26The Democrats open border policies have allowed for the illegal entry of violent criminals, rapists, child predators, human traffickers and drug dealers who have left the path of destruction and death throughout America.
00:47Dubbed Louisiana lockup, Landry says it's a step toward improving public safety.
00:51Angola is the nation's largest maximum security prison, spanning 18,000 acres with wildlife and multiple escape deterrents.
01:00It's been long tied to harsh conditions and a troubled past.
01:04Before, called Camp J, has been now repurposed into an ICE detention facility, but not just a typical ICE detention facility that you may see in another state somewhere else in this country.
01:14The new immigration unit will hold only men separate from the existing state prison population.
01:19The facility will hold 208 detainees by mid-September, with capacity expected to rise above 400.
01:27Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said 51 detainees are already in place, including those with sentences for sex crimes, burglary, drug offenses and violent acts.
01:38Funding from President Trump's one big beautiful bill made the facility possible, providing financing for Louisiana and tens of thousands of additional detention beds across the U.S.
01:49The administration has used high-profile centers to signal that crime won't be tolerated, including the Everglades facility known as Alligator Alcatraz, which a judge ordered to shut down.
02:00New sites like Indiana's Speedway Slammer and Nebraska's Cornhusker Clink are also in development.
02:06Angola started as the Angola Plantations in the early 1800s, named after the African homeland of enslaved Africans.
02:14In 1880, Confederate Major Samuel James turned the plantation into a prison camp using the existing slave quarters.
02:22Black inmates were subleased for forced labor, while white inmates were often given skilled tasks.
02:28Louisiana purchased the property in 1901, operating it as a state penitentiary.
02:34Angola made headlines for brutal conditions and the Angola Three.
02:38Three black men held in solitary confinement for decades, sparking debate on racial injustice and prison reform.
02:45Read more of the story right now on the Straight Arrow News mobile app or by visiting san.com.
02:50For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey.
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