U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested two workers near Meta’s data center construction site in Richland Parish, Louisiana, after stopping dump trucks headed toward the facility, according to local officials and published reports.
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The arrests occurred Wednesday at the perimeter of the construction site in Holly Ridge, where unmarked vehicles arrived and conducted traffic stops involving dump trucks traveling to the Meta project, Bloomberg reported.
“ICE agents assisted the Richland Parish Sheriff’s Office with traffic stops involving dump trucks traveling to the Meta site,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
During those stops, two drivers were taken into custody by federal agents.
“During those stops, two drivers were arrested by ICE due to their immigration status. The individuals were from Guatemala and Honduras.”
The immigration status and nationality of the arrested individuals have not been independently verified. ICE has previously faced scrutiny for mistakenly detaining U.S. citizens and dual nationals, including a May 2025 case in which a U.S.-born construction worker, Garcia Venegas, was arrested during a separate enforcement action.
Local officials emphasized that federal agents did not enter Meta’s property during the operation.
“ICE did not enter the Meta site at any time,” the sheriff’s office said.
According to officials, ICE’s involvement was requested by local law enforcement. Meta declined to comment on the incident.
The arrests come amid an expanded federal enforcement push targeting construction sites, factories, and industrial facilities nationwide. The Department of Homeland Security has stepped up immigration raids as part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized employment.
Last September, law enforcement conducted a large-scale raid at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, detaining more than 300 Korean workers. Some individuals were reportedly working under visa waivers, while at least one worker held a valid B1/B2 working visa and had not violated its terms. Their departure from the United States was delayed for one day by President Donald Trump to allow workers to decide whether to remain in the country, with at least one choosing to stay.
ICE activity has also increased in urban areas across the U.S., triggering protests and confrontations. Earlier this month, American citizen Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent during an enforcement operation, further intensifying public scrutiny of federal immigration actions.
The Meta data center project in Richland Parish is part of a growing wave of hyperscale data center development across the southern United States, where construction demand has surged alongside increased labor enforcement efforts.
Originally reported by Sebastian Moss in Data Center Dynamics.
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