Day 227

'Camp 57': ICE Detainees Held in a Former Disciplinary Unit Inside Angola Prison (September 2025–)

On 3 September 2025 DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry opened "Camp 57", also called "Louisiana Lockup", an immigration detention unit for more than 400 men inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The reopened unit had been used for disciplinary confinement of state prisoners; Prism reports it is the former "Camp J" solitary-confinement unit closed in 2018. Noem said Angola's notoriety was part of the message to detainees. A former detainee describes small dirty cells, flooding toilets and poor food, which ICE denies; he was deported to Laos in October 2025 despite a federal judge's temporary restraining order blocking his removal while he pressed a "substantial claim of U.S. citizenship" (AP). ACLU Louisiana says people are being held there indefinitely as a form of punishment that civil immigration detention cannot lawfully be.

Federal judge grills DOJ over attempted deportation

In a subsequent hearing, the federal court questions DOJ attorneys about the attempted Labor Day deportation. The court notes the extraordinary timing and the violation of the TVPRA's requirement that children be allowed to appear before an immigration judge.

From: Midnight Deportation of 76 Guatemalan Children: Labor Day Weekend Mass Removal Attempt

Court blocks Harvard funding freeze

A federal judge rules in favor of Harvard, blocking the administration from withholding $2+ billion in federal research grants and finding the freeze violates the First Amendment.

From: Coercion of Universities: Funding Freezes, Research Cuts, and Demands for Political Compliance