Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum, located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting and viewers like you.

Thank you.

Louisiana's crackdown on immigration is sparking concerns about human rights abuses.

And a heartfelt family reunion for a group of Louisiana Girl Scouts in May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

We'll have all the details.

Plus, school kids ditch their books and pick up their instruments to play the blues.

Let's get started.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Karen LeBlanc.

And I'm Dorothea Wilson.

Much more on those top stories in a moment on this week's edition of Louisiana, the State we're in.

But first, Governor Jeff Landry has ordered Louisiana State Police to begin helping federal officials enforce immigration laws.

Now, the governor says he's working closely with the Trump administration to either arrest or deport illegal immigrants involved in crimes.

He's also urging other local law enforcement agencies to take a more active role in targeting undocumented immigrants.

Louisiana already has the second highest population of detained immigrants in the country.

Immigration advocates are concerned that the increased focus will lead to racial profiling, human rights abuses, and push detention centers over their capacity.

Congressman Troy Carter led a delegation of members of the House and Senate on a fact finding visit to two Louisiana U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers, one in China and the other in Brazil.

We merely wants you to go on a fact finding mission, to explore and to see what was going on at the facility and to ensure that, the opportunity for the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment to be recognized, the First Amendment being, the importance of free speech.

The Fifth Amendment is making sure that people have due process, both of which, we were woefully disappointed in its lack thereof.

Louisiana is home to the second largest immigration detention population in the country, outranked only by Texas.

Across the state, nine immigration detention centers are in operation.

Eight are owned and operated by private companies.

Some private entity can charge the federal government upwards of $100 per day.

And many of them have been there eight, nine, ten months.

These hearings should happen quickly.

Either person is going to be deported or released, are summarily measured.

But to keep them for eight, nine, ten months, it is a for profit entity that's holding people and making money by filling the cots in these facilities.

In Louisiana, the oversight and licensing of Ice detention centers fall under federal jurisdiction.

These facilities are managed through contracts between Ice and private companies.

So there's a huge profit motive to bring folks into the state.

Executive director of the Louisiana ACLU, Alana Odoms joined Congressman Carter on his visit to two Ice detention centers, both owned and operated by the Geo Group.

I have to say that, the detention centers are almost identical to a regular prison that you would think about for incarcerated people who've committed crimes.

It's really unbelievable.

And I say that for two reasons.

One is because the purpose of immigrant detention is to ensure that people are, housed in a place that is habitable and comfortable while they're waiting for their administrative proceedings to go through.

There is nothing further from that setting, a comfortable setting, a habitable setting.

The Louisiana ACLU issued a report Inside the Black Hole detailing widespread human rights abuses in many of these detention centers.

One of the main issues that we find with people who are, incarcerated in these Ice detention facilities is that their basic human needs are really not being met, and so not being provided with medical care is a huge problem in these particular facilities.

And then I think the other thing is, just with regard to due process, there are very few spaces in these facilities for secure legal visits.

So our wellness visit turned out to be a good moment too, to determine that while the place was clean and appeared to be, fit for humans, there were things that were done that were not fit for humans.

We later also found out that things basic things like providing feminine products, toilet paper, was not always readily available.

And oftentimes they went days, without these basic provisions.

According to the Geo Group website, the Central Louisiana Ice Processing Center in Jena received a credit score of 99.6% in 2018 by the American Correctional Association.

The South Ice Processing Center in Brazil, also operated by the Geo Group, does not list an accreditation score.

LPB reached out to the Geo Group for a response to the report's findings and comments from Congressman Carter and the Louisiana ACLU Executive Director.

As of press time, we have not received a response, so sending them somewhere where they almost don't to spend a long time.

Weeks, months, at the tune of 100 plus dollars a day.

That goes to this privately and I underscore privately run institution in a penal institution for fee or profit.

So you send a person, kind of in a way of saying, we're going to really punish you.

We're going to send you far away back into the boonies deep in Louisiana.

Inside the Black Hole report cites that Louisiana's emigration population began to surge in 2017 after criminal justice reforms reduced prison populations.

We did a huge package of criminal legal reform, over ten pieces of legislation that lowered our overall incarceration rates by about 20%.

That resulted in about 4000 or 4500 beds being opened.

And that's when we saw a lot of folks coming into the state of Louisiana by way of, their asylum proceedings and being housed in these facilities.

Immigration rights advocates expressed concerns over Governor Jeff Landry's launch of Operation Go, empowering Louisiana's law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration laws.

The governor says of his executive order, quote, we are ushering in a new age in America and Louisiana, one where law and order is the expectation, not the exception, where our communities and families are protected and criminals are rejected.

End quote.

Immigration rights advocates say more Louisiana arrest will push Louisiana's Ice detention centers to maximum capacity.

Meanwhile, LSU is getting ready to begin the search for a new president.

The current president, William Tate, was elected as the new president of Rutgers University in New Jersey.

He took the job at LSU in 2021, becoming the school's first black president and chancellor.

The university's vice president for agriculture, Matt Lee, will serve as interim president until LSU finds a permanent replacement.

From hashtags to headlines, here's what's trending this week five inmates are still on the run after escaping from the Orleans Parish jail last Friday.

That's right.

Karen, this is wild.

Governor Jeff Landry has issued an executive order directing multiple state agencies to provide oversight into the criminal justice system.

Yeah, this is getting a lot of national attention.

Now, the ten inmates escaped Friday by breaking through defective locks, then breaking through a wall behind a toilet.

They ran out of the loading dock, climbed defense, and they got out.

And they left drawings on the cell wall taunting the jailers.

And I think that's why it made national news the brazenness of it.

Right.

Isn't that ridiculous now?

A maintenance worker was arrested for allegedly helping them escape.

He claimed the inmate threatened his life.

Yeah, well, the five who are still on the run were locked out for a variety of charges, including murder.

Multiple investigations into the escape are underway.

All right.

Switching gears is good news.

Sesame Street is saved thanks to a deal between the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Netflix.

That is great news.

I'm so excited.

Now, the Trump administration is trying to defund the CPB, which helps fund PBS.

New seasons will air on PBS affiliates, the PBS kids app, and on Netflix.

Netflix will also offer 90 hours of holder episodes.

That's such good news.

And the 56th season of Sesame Street will debut later this year.

I love that.

Hey, you know what else I love?

John Foster isn't slowing down the ad.

His native came in second on American Idol.

Yeah, so he's headed to Denham Springs to perform at the Cajun Country Jam this weekend.

That's right.

He's expected to perform both Saturday and Sunday.

Now, tickets for the three day festival are $75, but foster is offering up a code for half price off on his Instagram page.

So sweet, so nice.

Such a good guy.

I know such a sweet, sweet guy.

Now into something more crazy.

Normally an alligator crossing the road isn't a big deal in Louisiana, but check this out.

A lady was driving in Plaquemines Parish when she saw something moving across the highway.

Thought it might have been a dog carriage.

Yeah, but it wasn't.

It was an alligator with no tail.

And it looks like a dog to me, so I can see that now.

The gator had a heeled nub where his tail was.

Experts say that gators can lose parts of their tails and fights now.

They can survive, but may have to stay on land or shallow water because they can't swim.

And as you said that you think somebody ain't that gator today.

I do think that heron, you know, they kept his life, but they took his tail.

Oh, right.

Now, an estimated 94,000 kids in Louisiana have a parent who is in prison.

Now, that makes it challenging for the parents and children to interact and spend time together.

But a Girl Scouts troop in New Orleans is making it just a little easier with Girl Scouts beyond bars.

The program connects Scouts with their incarcerated parents, with bars not keeping them apart.

Take a look.

Girl Scout is more than selling cookies.

Our goal is to really just to change the lives of girls.

And this program.

Girls green bars outside of just in her mom, they get to actually have that experience.

And I want people to know that, like, we care, you know, we we care about the girls.

We care about the girls futures.

Lonnie Carter, community program specialist at Girl Scouts Louisiana East, says Girl Scouts are more than just cookies.

This is very important to us as our council.

It's amazing to be able to work for a council that allows me to even do a program like Girl Scout, be on board, because it's not.

It's not something in your regular life.

It's not something that you would think about.

Girl Scouts empowers girls to develop courage, confidence and character through activities such as visiting animal shelters, camping, hosting dance offs and making movies.

They learn to take risks, trust their instincts, and work together for the greater good.

Nevertheless, cookie sales continue to be a significant element.

In fact, the over $200,000 in revenue generated from cookie sales enables Girl Scouts to meet their community commitments.

We have an event coming up.

It is cookies for a cause June 21st.

We benefit from it and so it will second harvest.

The other thing from that is for us to have these programs like Girl Scouts behind bars.

Of course, our Cookie New Avenue helps support many of our activities, including Girl Scout on bars.

Girl Scouts Behind Bars is one of the major programs presented by Girl Scouts that is funded in part by cookie sales.

It connects inmate mothers with their daughters through a distinctive collaboration between a youth service group and both state and local correctional facilities.

Some of them have been away for a while, still awaiting trial, so this is like their first time seeing their kids since babies like 3 or 4 months.

And then, you know, when the kid comes and see them, it's a shock because now my daughter is in third grade and I haven't seen her since she was a couple of months before I went in.

So now they get to be a part of something and get to be a part of their children's lives, right?

According to advocacy and research groups, 2.7 million children, half of which are under the age of ten, have a parent in prison.

When that parent is a mother to a daughter, the girl is more likely to withdraw, display physical aggression, abuse substances, and experience depression or anxiety.

She might also perpetuate the cycle by following her mother into the criminal justice system, reflecting the only life she has known.

But progress aims like Girl Scouts, beyond bars, bring hope and reverse the cycle.

Giving both mother and daughter something to look forward to and a reason to strive to be better.

So what impact do you see that this has been making on the moms and the children?

Well, you know, at first when you first go there, it's like the moms are just they're just there.

You hear about the trouble that they're getting into.

You hear about the things that they are doing that they're not supposed to do.

Having to go into the hole for a little bit, then like 3 or 4 months, it's like they come in and like, Lonnie, I'm in classes, I'm going to school.

You know, I'm trying to better myself.

And then hearing them and telling them, get to their daughters like mamas in school.

Mama is doing her best to get out.

Their behavior is better.

How it works there is if they do something, then they're on discipline and they don't get to join a program.

So now you're not seeing your daughter for about three months because they have this three discipline rule and you have done something that you're not supposed to.

But then you hear that this person has been a straight A, she hasn't gotten in trouble in a couple of months.

She's a rule in their program, but she's really trying to be a better person for her child.

Even with the circumstances that they're being met with.

While it is a daunting task to keep the program running as Carter has to petition to keep the program each year as both conditions and stipulations change, she says, in the end, it is rewarding just to see the joy it brings to families.

It's the smile.

It's the the, the overwhelming feeling that you feel and you get to see because it's like it's amazing.

It's it's different for them, you know, and we get to watch them grow and be with them during that process and watch the moms grow and watch their daughters grow and just hear how happy that they are, that they even get that moment with their mom.

May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and a paying tribute to the generations of people who have enriched the country's history.

That includes Louisiana's large Asian American community.

I sat down with the founder of night market BTR for more.

During the month of May.

We are celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

And joining me in studio is Lawrence.

She is the founder and curator of night market BTR.

To talk about the month, what we celebrate in some of the events, including night market BTR.

So thanks, first of all, for stopping by.

Thank you for having me.

Let's talk about Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

What is it?

What do we do?

And why do we celebrate it?

Yeah.

Stablished in 1992.

Asian American API month, is just a celebration of all the accomplishments and all the contributions that Asian Americans have done in the city of Baton Rouge and also in the United States as a member of the Asian American community.

What does this mean to you personally?

To have a month that recognizes the contributions, the history, and the heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States?

So I'll tell you twofold.

So I was born and raised in Honduras.

So a lot of the times, when I was growing up, I never I've never seen a population of Asians.

Right.

I was one of one Asian.

We were only four of us in a class of 169.

So I never grew up feeling that I had other people who looked like me, who were able to like, you know, share the same values or the same, things that we usually share in the household.

And then when I came to the U.S., I found a community.

I found that there's more people who look like me.

I found more people that, teachers who are, like, in class, that I can be like, wow.

Like, I never felt so seen in the community.

And I think that being able to have a month that represents what who we are is just so special in a sense of like, wow, I feel like I can celebrate myself and be uniquely me.

And that's what it's all about.

When we talk about the Asian American population throughout the United States, it's actually quite, a very large group.

Give us a sense of the diversity within that group.

Yeah, absolutely.

We have from Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean.

We also have like, Thai and also expands to India as well.

Now, here in Baton Rouge, you are the founder and curator of night market BTR.

Yes.

Tell me about that event, because it's held in May in conjunction with, American, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Yeah, absolutely.

So when we saw that night market BTR, I wanted to have an event that represents who we are as a community, but also like more Asian Americans in the past.

When I moved back to Baton Rouge back in 2016 and we never had an event where I felt seen, there was not a lot of visibility.

Yes, we did have a lot of restaurants around town, but there was not a lot of like events that really like showcase who we are and what our culture is all about.

So in that market, BTR, I started two years ago and back in 2023 with the idea of, spotlighting and highlighting other Asian American businesses, artists and vendors around the city of Baton Rouge who wanted to do something more than what, a lot of our families are always telling us be a lot of our families are always like, oh, we want you to be a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer.

And most of the times, we do not tap into that creative potential that we have.

So is it just an opportunity for empowerment for other young professionals and young, young individuals who want to, like, tap into their creative potential, but also is an opportunity for the community to grow and have more variety of, like, different, cultural experiences in the city.

What do you want the takeaway to be for others that are not part of the Asian American or Pacific Island community?

Yeah.

So what I want people to take, from this experience is being able to, like, be really open minded about, like what?

What we grew up with, all the traditions that we have and, like, learn about all of our different cultures and, you know, just enjoy, seeing how we grew up with the food that we, that we tried and, like, our parents cooked for us.

And just being able to, like, just embrace who we are and, celebrate because I think, like, being able to celebrate all different cultures from around the world is just so beautiful.

Well, thank you so much for coming by the studios to explain what the month is all about.

And for putting out the energy and bringing community together for night market BTR.

It's a great event.

Thank you so much.

In West Baton Rouge Parish, some students are singing the blues.

The Blues Afterschool program aims to educate kids about Louisiana's role in blues music, and teaches them how to play some of the classic tunes.

Check it out!

The West Baton Rouge Museum is linking local students to Louisiana's musical heritage with its blues After School program.

How many museums have a juke joint on their grounds?

Nine.

So when this space opened, our director said, okay, Jeannie, what are you going to do with this space?

How are you going to interpret it?

How are you going to bring bring programing alive in this space?

And I was like, I want an afterschool music program.

Blues After School is a free music enrichment program for middle and high school students in West Baton Rouge who want to learn music.

This initiative draws inspiration from the Juke Joint, a permanent exhibit and performance space at the West Baton Rouge Museum that celebrates local musical traditions.

Jeannie Luckett, the program director, says that participants gained more than just instrumental skills.

They come from 4 to 5 to learn how to play their instruments as a band, they learn to play traditional blues music, and from 5 to 6 p.m., being the museum, people that we are, we want them to learn blues culture and history.

Who?

The players were back then.

So it's a really cool program.

The kids get so much, you know, enrichment from these mentors and all the other things.

And it also brings other opportunities.

Manship Theater in Baton Rouge and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation have gone above and beyond to provide even more opportunities for the kids from this free program.

We've gotten to go to Manship to see, professional sound checks and production side of things and then get to see a show.

Christopher Collins has been part of the Blues Afterschool program since its inception in 2019.

Now a veteran of the program, with only one year remaining, he is undoubtedly leaving with much more than he ever expected.

I was one of the first students to ever do this program all the way back in 2019, now a very long time.

I started out being just, a drummer with very minimal skills, and I've grown since then, and I play multiple instruments now.

You do like what?

I play guitar, electric and bass.

And then I also play piano.

All as a result of being in this program.

Yes.

Wow.

That's Christopher Fisk, and that is what the program is designed to do.

Help students unlock their musical potential and keep Louisiana's vibrant musical history alive for future generations.

They have been connected.

Musician mentor Lazaro Nettles jumped at the chance to be part of Blues after school, as he believes it is his responsibility as a musician to ensure that children understand the historical culture of their state they have been inspired by.

The Louisiana culture, when it comes to music, is rich, and I don't think people put a price tag on it, but you have a right here to expose them and just, seeing the kids get involved and, you know, enthusiastic about it.

And, and not only that, just the soulful communication that it brings.

Also, you know, especially in today's time, everybody's on cell phone media, but here they actually get a chance to come here and communicate.

They get to express themselves.

They get to communicate, express themselves through music.

And, I think that's beautiful.

Yeah.

I find it anywhere else when the night has gone.

Oh, and the land is dark and the moon is the only light will say.

And little Callie Bird, another student in the program, couldn't agree more.

The 13 year old eighth grader says this program has helped her come out of her shell, and the friendships she's made with her fellow student musicians has helped her build her confidence as a singer.

Well, I love the community.

I love the people, the people are fantastic, and I feel like any kid from middle school to high school would truly benefit from being around this kind of musical friendship that this group, this program, builds.

And who knows, maybe these kids will help keep the blues alive in Louisiana for generations to come.

That's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

That's right.

And you can catch LPB news and public affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone that Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

I'm Karen LeBlanc.

And I'm Dorothea Wilson.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

You.

Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us.

Because together, we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum.

Located in Jennings City Hall, the museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana.

And by Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.