Trump's One of Oldest Deportation Hubs

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Deportation Flights climbed to a Five-Year High in June, and Alexandria Staging Facility in Rural Louisiana, Ranked First among the Nation's Five Busiest Deportation Hubs, according Analyst Tom Cartwright, who Tracks ICE Flights for the Nonprofit "Witness at the Border".

The Record Pace has continued in July, with the Trump (R) Administration leaning Heavily on the Louisiana ICE Detention Centers that feed Alexandria. The Alexandria Staging Facility sits on the Tarmac of a Small Regional Airport between a Golf Course and Gated Neighborhood.

Louisiana's Nine dedicated ICE Facilities have been holding more than 7,000 Detainees each day, on Average, in recent months. The State dramatically expanded ICE Detention during the First Trump Administration, growing its Network from Four Detention Centers and about 2,000 Detainees. Alexandria's Holding Facility is One of the Oldest, dating to 2014.

It has 400 Detention beds, receives Buses from the ICE Jails in Rural Communities around the State, and is Run by Pne of the Nation's Largest Private Prison Contractors, GEO Group Inc. "Historically, it’s a Facility that People will go to in the Couple of days before their Removal Flight, because it’s Attached to the Airport and ICE Air," said Deb Fleischaker, a Former ICE Official who served under the Biden (D) and 1st Trump Administrations. "It’s designed as a short-term detention facility."

"If you had to pick one ICE facility that is the cornerstone of the ICE deportation flights, Alexandria is it," Cartwright said. "There are a lot of detention centers that feed into it." Nationwide, the Number of Deportation Flights rose to 209 in June, according to Cartwright, the Highest Level since the Biden Administration, conducted more than 193 Flights during a Mass Deportation of Haitian Asylum Seekers in September 2021. That's up 46% from 143 Deportation Flights in June 2024, He said.

The Number of Deportation Flights has Increased 12% since Trump's Inauguration, according to Cartwright's Analysis. But because the Administration doesn't Release Details of Who is on the Planes, it's unclear whether the Total Number of People Deported has risen at the same Pace. Some Deportation Flights Depart with Seats Full, 80 to 120 People, to Mexico or Central America, Cartwright said. Others, like the Charter carrying Eight Criminal Deportees to South Sudan, leave to Faraway Destinations with Fewer Passengers on Board.

ICE Reported Removing 271,48 Immigrants in the Fiscal Year ending Sept. 30th, 2024. ICE removed 228,282 People from Oct. 1st through Mid-July, according to ICE Data. Congress recently Approved a Cash Infusion to Boost ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations Division: $29.9 billion. The Lump Sum can be used, among other things, f"for fleet modernization" to support Deportations.

Alexandria may Not hold the Top Spot for long: The U.S. Army Plans to Host a 5,000-bed Temporary Detention Center on Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, with Access to the Airport on Base. The White House Touts nearly 140,000 Deportations, but Data says roughly Half actually Deported, with the rest to be Deported.










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