Asylum-seekers, attorneys decry 'horrendous' Louisiana ICE detention center

SectionsTVFeaturedMore from NBC Follow NBC News During his 46 days at the Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, an asylum-seeker who was detained there said he witnessed “horrible conditions” that were “not suitable for humans.”The recently paroled detainee, who did not want to use his name pending his asylum case, spoke on the phone with NBC News and recounted there was little food, a lack of toilets, no hot water and extremely cold temperatures inside the facility.Immigration attorneys and advocates are sounding the alarm over conditions at the detention center run by the New Orleans field office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying it's deteriorated over the past few months. He said one of the issues with isolation is there is no process in place to fight solitary confinement or to get time reduced.In an April letter to Mayorkas, the American Civil Liberties Union asked that 39 ICE facilities be closed — 11 are in Louisiana and include Winn.It’s not the first time Louisiana detention centers have come under fire in recent years for reasons including their excessively low rates of parole and paroling asylum-seekers with unusually high bonds.Another detainee whose name is also being withheld told NBC News that he spent 46 days at Winn and said conditions were “horrendous.”Originally from Cuba, the detainee made his way to the border from Uruguay.He said there was flooding recently at the facility and everyone’s belongings got wet.“We are constantly being threatened with deportation.