ICE detention centers in Maryland? What we know

Gov. Wes Moore became the latest to criticize a potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Hagerstown on Friday, expressing “grave concerns” about the project in an open letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“I have grave concerns about any holding facility that denies basic human needs and dignity,” Moore said in the two-page letter. “Public safety is my top priority and we must protect the public by upholding all Constitutional rights.”

The letter came the same day that Moore gathered with other state, federal and local officials in Howard County, where County Executive Calvin Ball signed emergency legislation to block the conversion of a building in an Elkridge office park into a privately run detention center for immigrants.

That legislation was rushed through in less than a week, after county officials learned of the project, revoked its permit and introduced a bill clarifying that only the government could operate a detention facility. County officials said the planned conversion of an office building into a 29,000-square-foot immigration detention center failed to give notice and hold proper public hearings, and was impermissibly close to schools, parks and shopping centers.

“This legislation was not about speed alone,”  said Ball in a statement where he noted that it took less than a week from introduction through emergency hearings to signing. “It was about principle. It was about drawing a firm line between public safety and discrimination rooted in fear. It was about affirming that what we allow to be built in our neighborhoods impacts the public health, safety, and welfare of our community.”

While the Elkridge center appears to have been blocked, the future of the Hagerstown facility is less clear.

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Washington County officials said in a Jan. 28 statement that they were disappointed  by ICE’s announcement that it was considering the purchase of a warehouse in Williamsport for development of a “new ICE Baltimore processing facility.” Plans call for the “construction of holding and processing spaces, office space, public-facing visitor space and installation of amenities, such as cafeterias, bathrooms, and health care spaces,” among other changes.

County officials only learned of the project when the county’s Historic District Commission received a letter from ICE indicating that the project would have no impact on local historic properties. That appears to be the federal government’s only obligation under the law, said county officials, who said they may be powerless to stop the project.

“It is Washington County’s position that decisions about land use are best made locally. However, the legal reality when property is owned by the Federal Government is clear,” the county statement said. “Washington County is not able to legally restrict the federal government’s ability to proceed. DHS has not notified Washington County that a purchase has taken place.”

Viral videos surfaced in January of the current ICE facility in Baltimore that showed detainees crowded into a single room. Advocates condemned the facility, calling the conditions “inhumane.”

Moore cited a “troubling” lack of transparency from the department over the Williamsport facility in his letter to Noem. He wrote that he views actions like this acquisition as continuous attempts to “sacrifice federal-local collaboration.”

U.S. Rep April McClain Delaney (D-6th), who has been an outspoken critic of the conditions at the current ICE facility in Baltimore, echoed Moore’s human rights concerns in a statement Friday.

“People are not packages. Team Maryland cannot allow Noem’s ICE to establish a detention center in Williamsport to hold people without due process, transparency, or accountability – in violation of the constitutional and human rights of Maryland’s residents,” McClain Delaney wrote.

“The Supremacy Clause does not give the federal government authority to override the fundamental rights of my constituents and our neighbors,“ her statement said.

She said in a statement from her office last week that “ICE’s covert acquisition of a warehouse in historic Williamsport – carried out without transparency, community input, or accountability – is unacceptable,” and she planned to work with state and federal officials to demand answers.

Moore also wrote that the Williamsport facility may lead to significant economic troubles. The warehouse, which originally opened during the COVID-19 pandemic, is one of many that contribute to over “about 4,000 jobs, hundreds of millions in wages, and more than $450 million in combined capital investment.”

He said that economic loss from the ICE facility could undermine the county’s water and sewage systems. As the county is already reaching capacity with these systems, Moore wrote, a lack of financial support from a commercial distribution site will only excacerbate the problem.

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.