LOUISIANA, (KLFY) -- An all-female ICE detention center in Basile is facing serious allegations of abuse and denial of medical care, following complaints filed with the Department of Homeland Security.

The South Louisiana ICE Processing Center is accused of multiple forms of abuse, including harassment, discrimination and denying medication to detainees with epilepsy. These allegations are detailed in a 19-page complaint submitted to various offices within the Department of Homeland Security.

The complaints were filed by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Louisiana ACLU, the National Immigration Project and the Southeast Dignity Not Detention Coalition, who are calling for accountability and the closure of the detention center.

The complaint includes personal statements from three named individuals, and one Jane Doe, who describe experiences of sexual assault, physical, verbal and sexual abuse. They also allege being forced to work an unsanctioned night shift cleaning crew.

Three of the four individuals in the complaint identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community and claim they were specifically targeted by a former assistant warden of the detention center.

The complaint outlines legal violations, grievances and staff training failures, and it concludes with a call for the release of detainees as a remedy. According to the complaint, multiple reports were made to ICE and the FBI, with incidents dating back to 2023.

The South Louisiana ICE Processing Center and GEO Group were contacted for a statement, but no response was received by the time of publication.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.

Latest news