Maryland Community Pushes Back as ICE Warehouse Detention Plan Hits Pause

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The battle over a sprawling warehouse in western Maryland intended to become an ICE detention center has escalated, with local residents and activists loudly opposing the federal government’s plan. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchased the 825,000-square-foot building last year as part of a controversial nationwide strategy to convert warehouses into immigrant detention facilities. But after public outcry and a lawsuit from Maryland’s attorney general, the project is now on hold.

“This is a facility built for packages, not people,” said Patrick Dattilio, founder of Hagerstown Rapid Response, an anti-ICE group. Demonstrators gathered outside a county commission meeting, honking horns and chanting “Stop ICE!” to protest the plan. Their frustration was palpable, especially as the local government simultaneously declared “unwavering support” for ICE, a stance that sparked boos and forced the commission president to clear the room.

The county’s support for ICE stands in stark contrast to the outrage among many residents who say they were blindsided by the federal purchase and have serious moral objections to housing detained immigrants in a former warehouse. Carroll Sager, a local resident, held a sign reading “Disenfranchised in Washington County,” capturing the sentiment of many who feel excluded from decisions impacting their community.

The federal government’s $113 million contract to renovate the warehouse for 500 to 1,500 detainees is now stalled due to a temporary court order following Maryland’s lawsuit. The case highlights broader national resistance to DHS’s warehouse detention plan, which has faced legal challenges and local pushback in New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Georgia. Critics also question the inflated prices DHS paid for several warehouses, raising concerns about wasteful spending amid the expansion of a for-profit detention system.

Since taking office, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has paused new warehouse purchases and is reviewing contracts signed under his predecessor, Kristi Noem. While Mullin has not committed to continuing the warehouse conversion program, the department says it is “reviewing agency policies and proposals” as it considers the future of the Maryland facility.

For residents of Washington County, the uncertainty is frustrating. The warehouse was meant to ease overcrowding in Baltimore’s ICE detention centers, which have faced scrutiny over health and safety issues, including Legionnaires’ disease in the water supply. But locals like Nica Sutch, who has lived in the area for nearly 30 years, worry about the impact on their community and the message it sends about Maryland’s role in the federal immigration enforcement agenda.

As legal battles continue and DHS reassesses its plans, the people of Washington County remain vigilant. Their protests and demands for transparency are a clear message: they will not quietly accept turning their neighborhoods into detention zones for immigrants caught in a broken and brutal system.