Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield: Habeas Guide for Families

The ICE locator says your relative is at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana. If you need a Winn Correctional Center immigration lawyer to challenge the detention itself, the case belongs in federal court, not immigration court. This guide covers who runs Winn, where the petition goes, what 2026 court records from Winn show, and the mistakes that cost families time.

It covers Winn only. For every Louisiana facility and the federal court, see our guide to filing habeas in the Western District of Louisiana. For a case anywhere in the state, see our Louisiana ICE detention lawyer page.

Last updated: October 16, 2026. Covers the June 2, 2026 inspection report, court dockets through October 6, 2026, and the Supreme Court’s October 1, 2026 grant of review.

Winn Correctional Center at a Glance

Winn is a multi-building campus in rural north-central Louisiana where ICE holds adult men. It opened in 1990 and ICE took it over from the state in 2019. It is one of the largest ICE facilities in the country: when federal inspectors arrived in March 2025, ICE was holding 1,576 men there, the facility’s contractual maximum.

Who Owns and Runs Winn

According to the DHS Office of Inspector General, the Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office owns the facility and manages it on site, in coordination with ICE and a private contractor, LaSalle Corrections. ICE holds people there under an agreement with the parish, and the cases belong to ICE’s New Orleans Field Office.

LaSalle Corrections also runs other Louisiana jails that hold people for ICE, including the one in our Jackson Parish Correctional Center guide, and its name is easy to confuse with LaSalle Parish, home of the facility in our Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center guide. If a document says LaSalle, confirm where your relative is physically held.

Three Addresses, One Facility

Older listings give 180 CCA Boulevard, from the years Corrections Corporation of America ran the prison, and the state has listed 506 Gum Springs Road. ICE’s facility page uses 560 Gum Springs Road, Winnfield, LA 71483, the address federal court filings from Winn use. Use that one.

Letters must include at least the last four digits of your relative’s A-Number and your return address. Money orders for his trust account go to the same address with his full name and A-Number.

Which Federal Court Hears a Petition From Winnfield

A habeas petition for someone held at Winn goes to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Winn Parish belongs to the court’s Alexandria Division, so Winn cases carry case numbers beginning with 1, such as 1:26-cv-01021. For immigration habeas, the number is mostly a label: under Standing Order 1.74 these petitions go to judges in all divisions, and 2026 petitions from Winn have been assigned to judges seated in Lake Charles and Monroe. Our guide to how the district assigns judges explains the current rules.

The petition names the official holding your relative. That is usually the Winn warden, who receives a copy by mail, and lawyers commonly add federal officials such as the director of ICE’s New Orleans Field Office; one August 2026 Winn petition names both. The court serves the federal respondents itself. Our guide explains who must be named as respondent.

Some people at Winn, mainly those held after a final removal order, may qualify for the Federal Public Defender through its Lafayette office; see our section on the court’s two immigration habeas standing orders.

What 2026 Court Records From Winn Show

Petitions from Winn keep coming; two more were opened on October 6, 2026. The cases below are examples, not a statistical sample, and each turned on its own facts.

Petitions That Ended in Release

In Pipiia v. Winn Correctional Center, filed March 31, 2026, the magistrate judge recommended release without bond, under reasonable supervision if needed, and told the government to give the family the exact place and time of release at least two hours ahead. The district judge granted the petition and ordered release as soon as reasonably possible, with notice to the court within 24 hours. In Grigoryan v. Winn Correctional Center, filed in January, the court likewise recommended release under appropriate conditions and granted the petition.

Both went through two steps, a magistrate judge’s recommendation and then a district judge’s judgment, which is one reason to file early.

Where Petitions Stall

Petitions filed without a lawyer often stop at screening. Todua v. Winn Correctional Center was filed on May 26, 2026; eight days later the court issued a deficiency order. Rivera-Orta’s petition, filed in February, drew one a week later and reached a government response only on April 20. A lawyer-filed petition from Winn in January had an order to show cause the next day.

Complete petitions still take weeks. In one lawyer-filed case from July 2026, the court served the government on July 28 and the response came on August 24. Our guides to how long habeas corpus takes and problems with petitions filed without a lawyer explain the gaps.

What the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court Change

Winn is in the Fifth Circuit, which held in Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi in February 2026 that people who entered without inspection have no statutory right to a bond hearing. A July 2 panel ruling requiring hearings after 90 days was vacated on July 10; the full court heard argument on September 24, with no decision as of October 16. District judges have still granted habeas in individual cases since then. On October 1, the Supreme Court agreed to decide the statutory question in Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha.

See the Fifth Circuit’s July rulings and our federal circuit bond map. If your relative came to Winn from Maryland, Virginia or North Carolina, read why the filing date can decide which circuit’s rule applies.

Conditions at Winn: What the June 2026 Inspection Found

The DHS Inspector General’s unannounced inspection report, published June 2, 2026, found Winn fell short on environmental health and safety, food service, use of force, medical care, legal access and staff-detainee communication, among other standards. Five of its nine recommendations remained open. The AP reported that inspectors documented an officer using a banned chokehold and another stabbing a detainee’s thumb with a pen, and that medical staff had not kept treatment and laboratory records current.

Two findings matter to families. Inspectors asked for a secure, private way for detainees to save legal documents, and for decommissioned U.S. Postal Service mailboxes to be removed or covered, because detainees were using them to reach ICE. Ask your relative to keep a copy of anything he sends ICE, with the date.

Two men died at Winn in 2026: Alejandro Cabrera Clemente on April 11, of cardiovascular disease according to the coroner, and Mamuka Artmeladze on June 4, with the cause pending an autopsy when ICE announced it.

A habeas petition asks whether the detention itself is lawful; it is not a complaint process. Complaints go to ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility at 1-833-4ICE-OPR or the DHS Inspector General hotline at 1-800-323-8603. Medical records can still matter in a habeas case, as our page on using ICE detention records in a habeas case explains.

Six Mistakes That Cost Families Time at Winn

Each of these costs days a detained person does not get back.

1. Mailing to an old address. Use 560 Gum Springs Road and the A-Number. Listings with 180 CCA Boulevard are out of date.
2. Calling to speak with your relative. People at Winn cannot receive incoming calls. Leave an urgent message at (318) 628-2354 with his full name, A-Number and your phone number.
3. Filing in New Orleans. Winn is in the Western District. A petition filed in the Eastern District is usually transferred, and the days in between are lost, as our section on petitions filed in the wrong court shows.
4. Naming only “ICE” or the facility. A petition without the warden and the right federal officials can draw an order to amend.
5. Waiting for a bond hearing. Under Buenrostro-Mendez, people who entered without inspection have no statutory right to bond in Louisiana. Waiting for a hearing that will not come wastes weeks.
6. Sending an incomplete petition. A missing form, fee or signature leads to a deficiency order, as the Todua docket shows.

The First Week: What to Confirm, Send and Collect

Confirm the location in the ICE Online Detainee Locator, then call Winn’s information line at (318) 628-3971 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. with his full name, other names, date and country of birth. The locator can lag behind a move.

Visits depend on your relative’s classification level. Monday and Friday are for high and medium-high levels; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday are for low and medium-low levels; each visit lasts one hour, with up to four visitors. Ask his level before driving to Winnfield, and bring a valid ID. Our page on visiting, calling and sending money covers the general rules.

For a lawyer, Winn accepts the G-28 through ERO eFile, schedules video legal visits by email at VAV_Winn@lasallecorrections.com and takes legal mail by fax at (318) 628-7507. Collect the Notice to Appear and any custody papers; our guide to understanding detention paperwork explains what each one is.

Transfer Risk From Winn

A move within ICE’s Louisiana list generally keeps a new petition in the Western District, with two exceptions: the Angola unit is in the Middle District, and a move to the Alexandria Staging Facility can mean removal is close, as our Western District FAQ explains. A move out of state changes where a new petition is filed, while a petition already on file generally stays with its court; our page on where to file habeas after an ICE transfer explains why.

After a transfer, Winn forwards only legal mail. Tell your lawyer about any move the same day. Our transfer prevention practice handles emergency requests to stop a move.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to Do Next for Someone Held in Winnfield

Winn is remote and crowded, but the federal path is clear: the Western District of Louisiana, a petition naming the warden and federal officials, and a judge who can order release when detention is unlawful. Three steps help most this week. Confirm the location and get the A-Number. Collect the Notice to Appear and any custody or bond papers. Then ask a federal habeas lawyer to review the case, especially if your relative has been held for months, which our prolonged detention practice handles. Our guide to how federal habeas works in ICE detention explains the full process, and you can see who files these petitions, and where.

Legal Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every immigration case has unique circumstances. For legal guidance specific to your situation, we recommend consulting with an experienced immigration attorney. The information in this article reflects laws and policies as of the publication date; subsequent changes may affect its accuracy. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Sources were reviewed as of October 16, 2026.

Update Log

• October 16, 2026: First published. Covers the DHS Inspector General’s June 2, 2026 report on Winn, Western District of Louisiana dockets through October 6, 2026, the Fifth Circuit’s September 24, 2026 en banc argument in Sosnava Rodriguez v. Ortega, and the Supreme Court’s October 1, 2026 grant of review in Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha. Pending: the Fifth Circuit’s en banc decision.

Sources

1. Results of an Unannounced Inspection of Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, Louisiana (OIG-26-08), DHS Office of Inspector General, June 2, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
2. Winn Correctional Center, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility page; accessed October 16, 2026.
3. Standing Order 1.74, Immigration Habeas Petitions Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, July 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
4. Pipiia v. Winn Correctional Center, No. 1:26-cv-01021 (W.D. La.), docket via CourtListener, filed March 31, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
5. Grigoryan v. Winn Correctional Center, No. 1:26-cv-00278 (W.D. La.), docket via PacerMonitor, filed January 30, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
6. Todua v. Winn Correctional Center, No. 1:26-cv-01726 (W.D. La.), docket via Habeas Dockets, filed May 26, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
7. Western District of Louisiana, Tracked Cases, Habeas Dockets, entries through October 6, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
8. ICE facility in Louisiana reports its second detainee death in less than 2 months, Associated Press via Verite News, June 9, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
9. Inspection finds use-of-force issues, safety and sanitation concerns at La. ICE detention center, WAFB, June 4, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
10. Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi, No. 25-20496, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, February 6, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
11. Sosnava Rodriguez v. Ortega and 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) Detention in the Fifth Circuit, National Immigration Project, August 4, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.
12. US Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to mandatory immigration detention without bond hearings, JURIST, October 2, 2026; accessed October 16, 2026.