The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit on Monday, accusing Louisiana's new immigration detention center, "Louisiana Lockup," and the Trump administration of indefinitely locking up immigrant detainees in the facility and punishing immigrants for the same crime twice, in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause.
The Louisiana facility opened on September 3, using the blueprint forged by Florida's Alligator Alcatraz. After Republican Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency in July to expedite repairs to a section of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana—a maximum-security prison notorious for violent and inhumane conditions—the state partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to add 416 immigrant detainee beds.
