PORT ALLEN — Residents in West Baton Rouge voiced concerns at a Parish Council meeting on Thursday after rumors spread of a potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility being built in the community.
According to The Advocate, federal officials have been scoping out locations across the nation as part of a $45 billion expansion of immigration detention infrastructure.
A Washington Post article from December said that Port Allen and Hammond were being scoped as locations for potential detention centers, with ICE intending to hold 80,000 immigrants in warehouse facilities across the country. Reports showed a proposed site in Port Allen in a 250,000 sq. ft. warehouse at 2070 Commercial Drive…