In the heart of Central Louisiana, Alexandria and Pineville blend small-town charm with the spirit of celebration. Here, Mardi Gras traditions and Cajun hospitality thrive alongside modern amenities. Outdoor enthusiasts can explore Kisatchie National Forest, fish the bayous and manmade lakes, or join in on bass tournaments and high-speed boat races at Lake Buhlow.
Alexandria International Airport (AEX) is situated approximately 4 miles northwest of downtown Alexandria in central Louisiana.
The airport serves commercial airline carriers, general aviation, air taxi, and a variety of military personnel and cargo arrivals/departures. Charter flights for the U.S. military to international destinations are routinely conducted from the airport, many from nearby Fort Polk in Leesville. AEX features one of the three air traffic control towers in Louisiana that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This unassuming airport in Alexandria, Louisiana, has, in a very short time, become the most active deportation hub in the United States.
Since Trump began his second term in January, more than 21,000 people have been processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through the “Alexandria Staging Facility” alone – a 400-bed facility located directly on the airport grounds. This facility is unique in the U.S. and exemplifies Trump’s radically escalated immigration policy.
The numbers underscore the scale of operations in Alexandria: 1,117 transfer flights and 208 deportation flights make Alexandria the leader among U.S. deportation airports.
Close behind is Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, with 1,020 transfers and 128 departures. Other airports, such as El Paso (602 transfers, 118 deportations), Mesa Gateway in Arizona (499 transfers, with only 5 deportations), and Miami (261 transfers, 24 deportations), play essential roles, but none match Alexandria’s central importance.
Every day, hundreds of immigrants in Alexandria are escorted across the tarmac in hand and leg shackles. Some board planes directly to Central America, others are loaded onto buses that take them to one of the eight other detention centers in Louisiana. These detention facilities form a dense network around Alexandria, with capacities that have reached alarming proportions.
The largest of these facilities, Winnfield, houses an average of 1,670 detainees per day. Richwood (1,190), Jena (1,180), and Jonesboro (1,170) follow close behind. Other major detention centers such as Basile (1,040), Pine Prairie (990), Ferriday (570), and Oberlin (170) complete this grim panorama. Badar Khan Suri, an Indian scholar with a valid research visa from Georgetown University, had to experience the harshness of the system firsthand. In March, he was chained on the tarmac in Alexandria and held for three days before being transported to Texas. His arrest came under the claim that he threatened the foreign policy interests of the U.S. after his wife, a Palestinian-American activist, had drawn the attention of pro-Israel lobbying groups through her criticism of Israel.
Suri’s fate is just one of thousands. Since January alone, over 40,000 people have passed through this deportation network, which ICE has perfected following the model of efficient logistics companies like Amazon and FedEx. Todd Lyons, the acting ICE director, publicly emphasized that the agency’s goal is to organize deportations “like a business.” This business logic is also reflected in the history of the detention centers themselves.
Originally local jails, they were taken over and massively expanded by private operators such as Geo Group and LaSalle Corrections. As a result, detention centers like Richwood became overcrowded quickly. Where space was initially intended for 1,129 detainees, significantly more people are now housed under catastrophic conditions. Adriana Mata Sánchez, who had lived peacefully in Texas for twenty years, was detained after a simple traffic stop and spent three months in Richwood before voluntarily accepting deportation to Mexico to escape the cramped and inhumane conditions.
The expansion of the deportation system has profound economic consequences for Louisiana. Communities like Richwood, which once suffered from financial hardship, now benefit financially from ICE contracts. Mayor Gerald Brown emphasizes that these detention centers have become the town’s largest source of income.
At the same time, the ethical and humanitarian questions remain unanswered. Meanwhile, Trump is planning to expand this model nationwide. Florida has already opened “Alligator Alcatraz,” a massive tent city in the Everglades.
Another megaproject with 5,000 beds in Texas is also planned. Private security companies are poised to expand their facilities in several states significantly. Louisiana’s deportation machinery, however, remains the blueprint for this harsh and controversial policy. While people are processed in Alexandria every day, quiet resistance and criticism are growing, but the efficiency of the system currently seems to overwhelm all human objections.
The raw numbers illustrate the scale: In just seven months, more than 1,325 flights were processed in Alexandria, over 40,000 people passed through the system, and nine detention centers were permanently pushed to their limits. Louisiana is, therefore, not only the logistical heart of Trump’s deportation policy but also a symbol of a system that places efficiency over humanity.
