N O L A.C O M
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M o n d ay, a p r i l 21, 2025
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Wind developers lease La. land for new farms
At least five land-based projects are in development BY BLAKE PATERSON | Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
A truck with a Louisiana license plate makes one of two passes within 10 minutes purposely pushing out dark clouds of exhaust from its diesel engine next to faith leaders and protesters April 11 outside the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Jena. The crowd was supporting Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil after judges ruled he could be deported.
In a small Louisiana town, national spotlight returns Jena’s ICE detention center has become a significant presence in the area
Private wind developers are quietly inking lease agreements with landowners in parts of rural Louisiana for what could be the state’s first land-based wind farms, even as President Donald Trump takes aim at renewable energy projects in general and the wind industry in particular. According to public records, at least five utility-scale wind projects are in development in Louisiana. Two of those projects are based in St. Landry Parish in Acadiana. Three others are in Madison, Tensas and West Carroll parishes in the northeastern part of the state. As of yet, no wind turbines have been erected in Louisiana, and the projects are likely years away from coming online. But they signal a new wave of interest in wind development in Louisiana, made possible by taller turbines and technological advances that are allowing developers to access faster winds.
ä See WIND, page 5A
BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer JENA — A group of protesters stood outside the federal immigration center in this central Louisiana town a few weeks ago, calling for it to be emptied, when a truck rolled past and belched a plume of exhaust at them. The driver circled around as the group faced a bank of TV news cameras set up in the brush across the road, then repeated the act — a greeting of sorts to a hamlet in the pines that once again has drawn a national media glare. The protesters had trekked 230 miles that morning from New Orleans to support Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, now in his second month at the detention center, where a judge that day had found him deportable. It’s here, at a compound cut into the pines a few miles from downtown Jena, that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have sent Khalil and some other noncitizens and students targeted for removal by President Donald Trump’s administration, in some cases for their speech. The complex is one of several privately run facilities under contracts with ICE that have made Louisiana
PROVIDED PHOTO
Faith leaders and supporters walk outside the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Jena, which is holding Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil. Advocates for Khalil and other recent detainees say they’ve been spirited to remote areas like Jena with a purpose: to confound access to their lawyers and challenges to deportation. the second-leading state for U.S. im- detainees say they’ve been spirited to migrant detainees, behind only Texas. remote areas like Jena with a purpose: About 7,000 detainees are being held in to confound access to their lawyers the Pelican State. ä See SPOTLIGHT, page 3A Advocates for Khalil and other recent
Carter, Higgins want FDA to destroy imported seafood Legislation introduced would give the agency more power
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Legislation introduced Wednesday by Rep. Troy Carter, of New Orleans, and Rep. Clay Higgins, of Lafayette, gives the federal Food and Drug Administration additional powers to impound and destroy imported seafood found contaminated,
WEATHER HIGH 81 LOW 70 PAGE 6B
ä See SEAFOOD, page 5A
Legislature considers second bid to protect IVF Alabama ruling caused alarm
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN | Staff writer
BY MARK BALLARD | Staff writer WASHINGTON — Though they barely agree on anything politically, Democratic Rep. Troy Carter, of New Orleans, and Republican Rep. Clay Higgins, of Lafayette, came together in an attempt to heighten the regulatory wall protecting Louisiana’s seafood industry from foreign imports. They introduced legislation Wednesday that gives the federal Food and Drug Administration additional powers to impound and destroy imported seafood found contaminated, adulterated or misbranded.
Mississippi got its first wind farm last year, when AES began producing electricity at its 184-megawatt Delta wind project located on private property in Tunica County. According to public records, at least five utilityscale wind projects are in development in Louisiana.
Carter
Following an unsuccessful attempt last year, some lawmakers are again seeking to protect in vitro fertilization treatments in Louisiana after a court ruling in Alabama last year temporarily paused IVF treatments in that state. State Rep. Paula Davis, R-Baton Rouge, who shelved an IVF bill last year because she did not believe the final version included enough protections for providers, is again spearheading the effort. But this time she will be joined by state Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport.
Higgins
Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
ä See IVF, page 4A
12TH yEAR, NO. 252