The Trump administration is planning to send immigrants to a violent prison packed full of murderers that has a bloody history, and a popular rodeo, according to people familiar with the matter. The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola houses around 3,400 inmates, 70 percent of whom are serving a life sentence. Over 90 percent of inmates are violent offenders. Even still, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency plans to ship immigrant detainees there, with 450 beds made available to help the administration’s deportation push. Eunice Cho, senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, said this plan is astounding, especially given the facility’s violent history and reputation. “The idea of placing people in a brutal prison for alleged violations of immigration law is profoundly disturbing,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “There is a very long history of abuses at this particular facility.” He argued that the use of sites like Angola and the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” for detaining immigrants is an attempt to sow “sadistic terror in immigrant communities.” A particularly bloody period in the 60s and 70s, marked by routine knife attacks, cemented the facility’s grim reputation. Bizarrely, it is also known for its rodeo, held in an arena that seats 10,000 people.
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