ICE arrests two drivers near Meta data-center construction in Louisiana

ICE arrested two drivers on Wednesday near a Meta construction project in Richland Parish, Louisiana, officials said, Businessinsider. The Sheriff's Office said the individuals were detained during traffic-stop inspections of vehicles heading to the Hyperion Data Center site. "During those stops, two drivers were arrested by ICE due to their immigration status," the office said, adding the drivers were from Guatemala and Honduras and that "ICE did not enter the Meta site at any time." In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE did not target a Meta data center in Louisiana and that agents carried out a "targeted operation" to arrest the truck driver from Honduras, encountered another driver from Guatemala, and that both are in ICE custody.

Meta declined to comment. The project is the largest of several multi-gigawatt data centers that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said will come online as the company races to catch up on AI computing capacity. The arrests underscore questions companies have faced about preparing workers for ICE encounters and follow a recent surge of ICE activity that has met resistance in Democratic-led states; Louisiana Gov.

Jeff Landry has been a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, and the state is receiving nearly $1 million a month to house detainees at its Angola prison, Axios reported, citing public records. January 15, 11.25 p.m. E.T.

Key Topics

Politics, Ice, Meta, Hyperion Data Center, Richland Parish, Jeff Landry