Anovaeon's CEO tells the airpark board the Alexandria project is not a detention center
AnovaeonEric Fritz, CEO of Anovaeon, at an England Airpark board meeting, quoted by ABC News
Eric Fritz, CEO of Anovaeon, which ABC News says will run daily operations, tells an airpark board meeting that the project is a staging center for families leaving the country voluntarily, not a detention center.
Responding to
The Alexandria facility is a staging facility where people await their deportation flight to their destination country or transfer to a detention facility.
“This project right over here is not a detention center, it's a staging center for families who are voluntarily departing this country, admittedly through pretty crappy circumstances on their end.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
ICE and its contractors call an Alexandria, Louisiana site for families and unaccompanied children a staging center; advocates call it child detention
ICE plans to hold families, unaccompanied children and adult women awaiting removal at a 528-bed former barracks at England Airpark in Alexandria, Louisiana. ICE and the operators call it a staging center for voluntary departures; Sen. Ron Wyden and immigrant rights groups call it child detention.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
ABC News reports that a 528-bed facility at England Airpark in Alexandria will house families with children, unaccompanied minors and single adult women awaiting removal, citing a draft agreement between ICE and the airpark's governing district that describes ICE detention in a secure environment. It quotes the operators, who call it the Alexandria Family Staging Center for people leaving voluntarily, an Anovaeon official who says staff would alert ICE if someone tried to leave, a National Immigration Project attorney, and an ICE spokesperson's statement.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
ABC News reports that operators of the facility have pushed back against the notion that it is a detention center during board meetings, and that Fritz made this remark at a commissioner board meeting the week before its report.
After the quotation
ABC News reports that Fritz said the facility will provide medical care, mental health care, meals, soccer fields and free international calling.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is ICE's plan to hold families and unaccompanied children at the Alexandria site, which critics call detention. Fritz rejects the detention label and calls it a staging center for voluntary departures, which disputes how critics describe it.
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More from this case
Read the full caseICE calls the Alexandria site a staging facility for deportations
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
“A staging facility is where illegal aliens await their deportation flight to their destination country or transfer to a detention facility”Read statement
National Immigration Project attorney says the Alexandria site is a detention center and people are not free to leave
National Immigration Project
“There can be no hiding what this is, this is a detention center. People are not free to leave”Read statement
Wyden tells HHS the Alexandria facility will not serve the best interests of children in federal care
“I do not believe that the design, implementation, and operation of this Alexandria facility will properly serve the best interests of children in ORR's care”Read statement
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- Anovaeon's CEO tells the airpark board the Alexandria project is not a detention center
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The Dispute Index. "Anovaeon's CEO tells the airpark board the Alexandria project is not a detention center". First published: 2026-11-04. Last updated: 2026-11-04. https://disputeindex.com/events/8103-eric-fritz-ceo-of-anovaeon-which-abc-news