New 528-Bed ICE Facility for Families and Children Could Speed Up Deportations

The administration plans to open a 528-bed holding facility for migrant families and unaccompanied children next to its deportation-flight hub in Alexandria, Louisiana, positioning ICE to speed up removals by staging children and families near the airport during final preparations for flights. ICE calls the site a “staging area” rather than a detention center and says people would be held only a few days, but advocates warn children could end up held for weeks or months, as has happened at other federal holding sites. “It’s an expansion of the deportation system in ways we haven’t seen before,” said Leecia Welch of the nonprofit Children’s Rights.