The South Louisiana Correctional Center is Louisiana's newest ICE processing center. Located in Basile, Louisiana, this correctional center is approximately an hour away from Lafayette, Louisiana and an hour and a half away from Alexandria, Louisiana. Just like the other ICE processing centers in Louisiana, the South Louisiana Correctional Center is located in rural Louisiana, far away from any immigration attorneys. Just like the LaSalle ICE Processing Center and the Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center, the South Louisiana Correctional center is run by a government contractor that has contracts with many Department of Homeland Security Facilities across the country - the GEO Group. As such, this facility has very strict rules for visitors. For example, family and friend visitations must be scheduled in advance, any individual visiting the facility must bring proof of identification and no electronic devices may be brought into the facility, even for immigration attorneys. When you first enter the South Louisiana Correctional Center, you will have to go through security and give the employees your driver's license. Just like the other GEO facilities, you will probably have to wait a significant amount of time before meeting with your friend or family member, even if you schedule your meeting in advance as employees from the South Louisiana Correctional Center and other GEO facilities have a policy of not having the family members waiting in the meeting room at the time requested - they will have to go and locate them once you enter the facility and tell them who you want to meet. Even worse, if they are doing count (confirming that all of the detainees are present and accounted for), you will have to wait until count is over, which could easily last for an extra hour. The meeting room itself is a bare bones room with plastic chairs for people inside the room to sit in. Meetings may not last longer than two hours. The South Louisiana Correctional Center is a female only facility, and has females from countries throughout the world, from Central and South America to China. The majority of detainees at the South Louisiana Correctional Center, are recent arrivals, but many of them have lived in the United States for many years. Presently, the immigration court in San Juan, Puerto Rico has administrative control over detainees housed at the South Louisiana Correctional Center. This means that at the hearings, the judge will appear by video teleconference. In fact, the DHS ICE attorneys will also be appearing in Puerto Rico via televideo conference. This means that the detainees must either mail all of their filings directly to Puerto Rico, or fax file the papers with the immigration court (a privilege which has been given to the detainees who might not have any other means to file paperwork with the immigration court). Unlike many other detention centers in Louisiana, the judges assigned to detainees at the South Louisiana Correctional Center are extremely fair and will give your loved one a fair chance to either obtain bond or win their case. Obviously, this depends upon a lot of factors relating to the strength and weakness of each case, the connections between the detainee and the United States, the number of family members the detainees have in the United States, the detainee's criminal history and a host of other relevant factors. If you are coming from a long distance to visit a loved one at the South Louisiana Correctional Center, it is advisable for you to stay in Lafayette, Louisiana as this city has nice hotels and restaurants. It is easy to rent a car from Lafayette to Basile, Louisiana. If you are visiting Louisiana for the first time while visiting a loved one at the South Louisiana Correctional Center and want to make the most out of your trip, make sure to see Mamou. Mamou, a town of fewer than 5,000 people, is located in the heart of Cajun Country and considers itself the Cajun Capital of the World. Make sure to go visit Fred's Lounge -a local bar with incredible Cajun music, depending upon the day of the week of course (Saturday If you are searching for an immigration attorney to represent a friend or family member at the South Louisiana Correctional Center, here is why you should an immigration attorney at Liberty Law Group:
4 Comments
Lasalle Detention Facility is located in Jena, Louisiana. Jena lies in the heart of central Louisiana approximately 4 hours north of New Orleans and two and a half hours north of Lafayette. Unfortunately for the immigrants detained at the Lasalle Detention Facility, there are not any experienced immigration attorneys located in Jena, Louisiana. The closest law office to Jena, Louisiana is located in Alexandria, Louisiana where several immigration attorneys provide services to immigrants located at the Lasalle Detention Facility, including immigration attorneys at Liberty Law Group. Alexandria, Louisiana is located only one hour south of the Lasalle Detention Facility (also known as the Lasalle ICE Processing Center).
Located in the same facility to the Lasalle Detention Facility is the Lasalle Immigration Court. Interestingly, Lasalle Detention Facility is one of only two facilities (out of about ten or so different detention centers in the state) where the immigrants sit in the same courtroom as the immigration judges who are adjudicating their case. There are approximately five immigration judges who oversee cases at the Lasalle Immigration Court, but out of the five, only three immigration judges actually hear cases for detainees who are housed at the Lasalle Detention Facility - Judge Fuller, Judge Munson and Judge Thogerson. The other two immigration judges adjudicate cases by video telephone conference at other immigration detention centers in the state of Louisiana. When hiring an immigration attorney to represent immigrants at the Lasalle Detention Facility, it is important to know how each of these judges rule, what kind of evidence they want at the hearing, and how the attorneys are supposed to conduct themselves in the courtroom. Fortunately, immigration attorneys at Liberty Law Group have substantial experience with each of these judges - in fact they have been practicing immigration law at this immigration court even before these immigration judges were appointed. Immigrants housed at the Lasalle Detention Facility not only come from Louisiana, but from the entire country. Over the last several years, the Lasalle Detention Facility has also received thousands of arriving aliens who have recently arrived in the country from the U.S. Mexico border. In a certain sense, the Lasalle Detention Facility has become an immigration hub for ICE to send individuals who are in removal proceedings. Before President Trump took office, the Lasalle Detention Facility only served as a housing facility and there was no immigration court. The immigrants at this facility were seen by immigration judges in Oakdale, Louisiana - approximately an hour and a half away. This process didn't work well since immigration judges at the Oakdale Immigration Court were also overseeing cases for immigrants detained at the Pine Prairie Detention Facility. When President Trump first took office, there were no permanent immigration judges assigned to the Lasalle Immigration Court, so the Department of Homeland Security had to assign other judges from all over the country who mostly appeared by video telephone conference. For a period of about a year, several immigration judges in Miami, Florida were responsible for handling the case load for immigrants housed at the Lasalle Detention Facility. In fact, the permanent immigration judges who are now assigned to the Lasalle Immigration Court have only been at this position for about two years. The Lasalle Detention Facility has been the one constant thing in a state full of changes made by ICE, with new facilities being added seemingly every month, the Lasalle Detention Facility has remained. If a new administration takes over in the coming years, many of these other immigration centers may close, but the Lasalle Detention Facility will most likely remain open, for many years to come. While there are many immigration attorneys to choose from who take cases at the Lasalle Immigration Court, it is important to find the right one. Immigration attorneys at Liberty Law Group regularly visit clients at the Lasalle Detention Facility. We offer free consultations, even many times traveling to meet with potential clients at the Lasalle Detention Facility before charging any fees. If you do decide to retain our services, we will be upfront about our fees and explain the process to you, from beginning to end. |
Details
AuthorChris lives in Alexandria, Louisiana where he enjoys playing with his girls and being the best husband he can possibly be. Archives
February 2021
Categories |