7 days ago
Man in Green Card Process Held by ICE Says Entire Cell 'Pepper Sprayed'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Prabesh Thapa Chettri, a former University of Louisiana Monroe student from Nepal, told local outlet KNOE that detainees held in the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center were "pepper sprayed."
Newsweek has confirmed in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee database that Thapa Chettri is being held in its processing center in Jena, Louisiana.
Newsweek contacted ICE, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and GEO Group, which operates the facility, for comment via email on Friday.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history and has overseen an immigration crackdown since returning to office.
Immigrants residing in the country illegally and legally, with valid documentation such as green cards and visas, have been detained. Newsweek has reported dozens of cases involving green-card holders and applicants who were swept up in the immigration raids. Green cards applications can be lengthy and involve filing a petition, completing interviews and providing biometrics.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and legal permanent resident, has drawn headlines over his detention at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center. The facility has faced multiple reports of inhumane conditions, which the GEO Group has denied.
A composite image of Prabesh Thapa Chettri and his wife, AbiGayle Grace Russell, from a GoFundMe created on his behalf and the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena on June 20.
A composite image of Prabesh Thapa Chettri and his wife, AbiGayle Grace Russell, from a GoFundMe created on his behalf and the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena on June 20.
AP Photo/Matthew Hinton/GoFundMe
What To Know
Thapa Chettri has been in ICE detention for more than five months after officials arrested him following an argument with his wife and discovered that his visa had expired in September 2024.
While in custody, he described the conditions of the center in a phone call to KNOE.
"Their guards, they pepper sprayed the whole dorm. So everyone—everyone started coughing, and it was hard to breathe. We couldn't see. It was, you know—it was burning our eyes, and they wouldn't let us outside of the door," he said.
He added: "I don't have a criminal background. I'm not a criminal, but I'm kept here with criminals, and that's why I feel like I don't belong here."
Thapa Chettri came to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa to attend the University of Louisiana Monroe.
"During our last year of college we fell on hard times and Prabesh couldn't afford tuition, so he fell out of status," Thapa Chettri's wife, AbiGayle Grace Russell, wrote in an online fundraiser for his legal fees.
She said she had filed an I-130 petition to advance the process of Thapa Chettri obtaining a green card, although it is not clear whether she filed ahead of his detention. Newsweek contacted Russell for comment via GoFundMe on Friday.
The Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center is one of the largest immigration detention facilities in the United States. Louisiana is the second-largest state for immigration detention, trailing only Texas.
The facility is operated by GEO Group, a private prison corporation that contracts with ICE. While a former ICE agent described Jena as "100 percent better than any state jail in Louisiana or the country," human rights advocates and former detainees have painted a different picture.
Anthony Enriquez, the vice president of U.S. advocacy and litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, told Newsweek in March: "GEO Group's inhumane, exploitative business cuts costs by denying minimum access to adequate food and medical care and threatening solitary confinement and other punishment to coerce unpaid labor from detained people."
There have been multiple reports over the years of alleged abuse, negligence and misconduct at the Jena center.
Between 2016 and 2023, at least four detainees died under questionable circumstances. In 2016 alone, three immigrants died within six months. Following a fourth death in 2017, the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties concluded that inadequate medical care contributed to at least two of the fatalities.
What People Are Saying
AbiGayle Grace Russell told KNOE: "Once they approve it, he gets out. He gets out with a green card. He's allowed to be an American, but they're dragging their feet. They're dragging their feet for everybody. The judge is concerned that he's in detention. You know, she understands it's detention. It is not the place to be. It's not a great place, and [she] doesn't want him to stay there anymore than he needs to."
A GEO Group spokesperson told Newsweek in March in response to different allegations: "GEO strongly disagrees with the allegations that have been made regarding the services we provide at GEO-contracted ICE Processing Centers, including the Central Louisiana Center."
What Happens Next
Russell said she had been in contact with Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, over the matter. Newsweek contacted Cassidy's office for comment via email on Friday.
