Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center (“Pine Prairie”) is an immigration detention center in central Louisiana with the capacity to jail over 1,000 people. The facility is operated by a private prison company, the GEO Group, Inc.

The findings reported in this white paper are based on interviews conducted between February and May of 2021 with immigrants formerly and currently detained at Pine Prairie. These interviews reveal a disturbing trend in which ICE officers and personnel at Pine Prairie use punitive solitary confinement to segregate individuals who have contracted COVID-19 or have experienced other medical or mental health crises, such as contracting mumps from unsanitary conditions or suffering from depression and anxiety. Pine Prairie has also deployed solitary confinement to silence protesters, including those advocating for racial justice. This pattern of implementing punitive solitary confinement is abusive and unlawful, and in some cases it may constitute torture.

What solutions exist?

The federal government can fund community-based case management programs by redirecting the billions of taxpayer dollars currently funneled to private prison CEO salaries through immigration detention contracts. Past evaluations of case management programs have shown how support and education for people in removal proceedings can reduce reliance on detention and surveillance while ensuring attendance in immigration court. Case management programs also expand local economic opportunity by creating jobs in mental health care, cultural orientation, human trafficking screening and referrals, legal information and referrals, and connections with other community-based services.

How can I get involved?

Read this report to learn what’s really going on at the Pine Prairie detention center.

June 21, 2021

“We Are Living Injustices I Cannot Even Name”: a report on human rights abuses in Pine Prairie immigration detention