“With one of the largest artificial intelligence facilities in the world and one of the largest construction sites in North America located here in our parish, we are faced with unprecedented challenges—traffic management being one of them,” the Facebook post said.  

“This morning, deputies with the Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office focused enforcement efforts on commercial truck traffic entering the Meta construction site. During these traffic stops, 13 individuals were stopped for traffic violations and found to be unlawfully present in the United States.” 

According to the Facebook post, none of the people detained had a valid Louisiana driver’s license and were from Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. 

One individual from Venezuela requested voluntary return to their home country because of the current regime change and was processed through ICE.

ICE arrested two dump truck operators over their immigration status as they were traveling to the Meta data center site in Richland Parish on Wednesday, according to a social media post by the parish sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office was involved in the traffic stops that led to the arrests, according to the post.

“ICE did NOT target a meta data center in Louisiana,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to The Shreveport-Bossier Advocate. “Officers were conducting a targeted operation to arrest Carlos Alberto Amador-Sanchez, an illegal alien from Honduras who illegally re-entered our country—a felony–during the Biden Administration. ICE also encountered Miguel Antonio Mendez Ortiz, an illegal alien from Guatemala, who entered the U.S. under the Biden administration. Both were arrested and are in ICE custody.

“We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $1,000 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”

Meta is building a 4-million-square-foot AI data center on 2,250 acres of former Richland Parish farmland. The data center, which will be as large as 70 football fields, was initially pegged to cost $10 billion. The cost is now estimated at $27 billion. 

“Sheriff Neal Harwell has been in daily contact with Meta officials, who are actively cooperating with the Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office to help keep Richland Parish citizens safe,” the Facebook post said.