ANGOLA, La. (AP) — Federal authorities purposefully chose a notorious Louisiana prison to hold immigration detainees as a way to encourage people in the U.S. illegally to self-deport, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday.

Watch the press conference in the video player above.

A complex inside the Louisiana State Penitentiary, an immense rural prison better known as Angola, will be used for some of the “worst of the worst” ICE detainees, Noem told reporters as she stood on the grounds of the facility near a new sign reading, “Louisiana Lockup.”

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Officials said 51 detainees were already being housed at Angola. But Gov. Jeff Landry said he expects the bu

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