Trump Admin Hit With New Lawsuit Over Detainees Sent to Louisiana Prison

[Thiệu Ngô]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Trump administration Monday, accusing it of unlawfully imprisoning immigration detainees at the former slave plantation and maximum-security prison known as Angola in Louisiana.

By Jenna Sundel and Gabe Whisnant

The lawsuit claims detainees are being punished twice for crimes they already served time for, in violation of the Constitution’s Double Jeopardy clause. It also alleges the government intentionally placed immigrants in inhumane conditions, including foul water and lack of basic necessities, as part of what it calls an anti-immigrant campaign.

Filed in federal court in Baton Rouge, the lawsuit seeks the release of several detainees and challenges the administration’s use of the prison to house people it labels the “worst of the worst.”

Why It Matters

The lawsuit comes a month after state and federal authorities announced that the Louisiana State Penitentiary would be used to house up to 400 immigrant detainees.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Kristi Noem told reporters that the facility "will hold the most dangerous of criminals."

The Trump administration has announced several new facilities since the president began his second term earlier this year, including “Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida, “Speedway Slammer” in Indiana and “Cornhusker Clink” in Nebraska.

Immigration enforcement has been a key focus of the Trump administration. During the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that it arrested 66,463 undocumented immigrants and removed 65,682 from the country.

What To Know

The lawsuit filed by the ACLU says detainees at the Louisiana facility were “forced to go on hunger strike” to “demand basic necessities such as medical care, toilet paper, hygiene products and clean drinking water.” The complaint alleges that the prison has mold, dust and "black” water coming out of showers.

Federal and state officials, however, have said those claims are part of a “false narrative” created by the media.

The ACLU also argues that some immigrants detained at the facility should be released because the government failed to deport them within six months of a removal order.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Oscar Hernandez Amaya, a 34-year-old Honduran man who has been in ICE custody for two years. He was transferred to the Louisiana State Penitentiary last month from an ICE detention center in Pennsylvania.

Amaya fled Honduras decades ago after refusing the violent MS-13 gang’s admonition “to torture and kill another human being,” the lawsuit alleges. The court document states that he was recruited at 12 years old.

Amaya was arrested in 2016 and later convicted of attempted aggravated assault. He was sentenced to more than four years in prison, but he was released on good-time credits after about two years and transferred to ICE custody.
What People Are Saying

ACLU attorneys wrote in a petition reviewed by the Associated Press: "The anti-immigrant campaign under the guise of ‘Making America Safe Again’ does not remotely outweigh or justify indefinite detention in ‘America’s Bloodiest Prison’ without any of the rights afforded to criminal defendants."

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry at a news conference last month: "I know you all in the media will attempt to have a field day with this facility, and you will try to find everything wrong with our operation in an effort to make those who broke the law in some of the most violent ways victims."