The Trump administration is poised to expand immigration detention operations at a controversial site inside a rural Louisiana airport, the Guardian has learned. According to a public presentation, the center will house only individuals who have sought to voluntarily “self-deport” – a claim questioned by a host of migrant and civil liberty groups who argue the compound will be a detention center in all but name. “I’m not losing sleep.”Hennessy described the Guardian’s previous reporting on detention operations at the Alexandria airport as “full of crap”. In 2025, 28% of removal cases in detention ended in voluntary departure, according to analysis by CBS News. “It’s two buildings that they’re trying to renovate, to disappear more families and children under the auspices of a voluntary program,” Wolfe said.

Source: The Guardian March 14, 2026 14:30 UTC