Trump Taps Notorious Angola Prison for Migrant Detentions (1)

On a sweep of farmland hemmed in by the Mississippi River, where guards on horseback once watched over inmates picking cotton, officials on Wednesday proclaimed a new mission for one of America’s most notorious prisons.

A corner of the sprawling Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola, will now house “Camp 57,” a federal detention center for migrants deemed the most serious offenders, part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary.

Photographer: Matthew Hinton/AFP/Getty Images

The administration said the facility would provide about 400 beds and described it as part of a broader endeavor to expand detention capacity. It is one of ...