The Trump administration’s mass deportation program may be set to ramp up in Maryland, according to a watchdog group and a member of the state’s congressional delegation.
A fleet of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles has reportedly arrived at a Maryland facility that some lawmakers are fighting to prevent from being used as a mass detention center.
Photos provided by the group “Hagerstown Rapid Response” appear to show what the group says is a fleet of vehicles purchased by the federal government, which arrived at a facility in Hagerstown.
The group says it believes that the fleet was recently deployed during the surge of agents to Minnesota.
Democratic Rep. April McClain Delaney said in response to those reports, “I have personally toured ICE’s Baltimore holding facility and witnessed firsthand the degrading and inhumane conditions in which individuals are detained. Marylanders do not want another one of these detention warehouses in our communities.”
Attorney General sues over Maryland ICE detention center
Last week, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced that he had sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE to block work on the facility in Williamsport, near Hagerstown, claiming that the federal government had not conducted an environmental review of the project or opened the proposal for public comment.
The 28-page lawsuit says DHS and ICE are disregarding federal law, while moving quickly to implement the Trump administration’s nationwide detention center agenda.
“We’re asking the court to halt construction and operation of this facility,” Brown said. “We’re asking the court to require a proper environmental review with full public input, and we’re asking the court to declare that what the administration did here was unlawful.”
Brown said that Maryland wasn’t involved in the planning process and has asked the court to stop construction on the project.
The lawsuit states that ICE purchased the 54-acre facility near Hagerstown on Jan. 16 for $102.4 million. The property was built to serve as a commercial facility and has warehouse space, offices, four toilets and two water fountains.
“According to DHS, the federal government intends to convert this industrial warehouse into a detention center capable of housing 1,500 people at a time,” the lawsuit reads. “Williamsport itself is home to just over 2,000 residents – meaning this facility alone would nearly match the town’s entire population.”
The attorney general also said it is required for agencies and commercial developers to conduct environmental reviews before taking federal actions that impact the environment, which includes assessing environmental impacts and providing opportunities for public feedback.
According to the lawsuit, DHS and ICE violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by buying the facility without conducting environmental assessments.
The lawsuit also raised concerns about the detention center’s impact on the air quality, traffic, public health and safety, along with inhumane holding conditions and access to medical care.
“Maryland has a strong commitment to protecting people from inhumane, unsanitary, and dangerous detention,” Attorney General Brown said. “Maryland also has a strong commitment to ensuring that community members have a voice in decisions that affect their neighborhoods and the people who live in them.”
Maryland lawmakers raise concerns
Several Maryland lawmakers have expressed concerns after learning of ICE’s plans to open a detention center near Hagerstown, in Washington County, which will serve as a 1,500 person immigration detention facility, according to a letter sent from Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Rep. April McLain Delaney to the Washington County Board of County Commissioners.
ICE confirmed to WJZ that it purchased the facility.
“These will not be warehouses — they will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards,” an ICE spokesperson said. “Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space.”
However, a group of Maryland lawmakers say this immigration center will “further fuel the Trump administration’s cruel and inhumane immigration agenda,” according to the letter obtained by WJZ.
The lawmakers argued that the building is not designed for confinement, and it could strain the county’s infrastructure, public health systems and first responders.
“Establishing such a facility in a warehouse not designed for residential confinement would pose substantial public health and safety risks, and place added strain on local hospitals, emergency responders, and already stressed infrastructure, including roads, utilities, and water systems,” the lawmakers wrote.
The lawmakers asked the Washington County commissioners to answer the following questions about the detention facility:
- Does the commission have concerns that alleged inhumane practices at other ICE facilities in the U.S. will occur in Washington County?
- What will the commission do to ensure that human rights violations do not occur?
- Has the commission studied the impact of the facility on the surrounding area?
- What steps has the commission taken to oppose or challenge DHS’s decision to use the warehouse to detain individuals?
- What steps has the commission taken to ensure the federal government complies with historical preservation measures that require it to solicit public input on certain projects?
Resolution to support ICE in Washington County
However, last month, the Washington County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution to support immigration efforts.
The support for the immigration facility and ICE enforcement has led to protests in the county.
“The Board hereby declares its intent to support DHS and ICE in the enforcement of our nation’s borders, safeguarding the integrity of our immigration system, and ensuring that all persons are treated with dignity and compassion within our jurisdiction,” the county’s resolution reads.
Fight against the ICE facility
Hundreds of protesters rallied against the ICE detention facility last month, which disrupted the Washington County Commissioners meeting.
“There’s a ton of concern that they’re about to start detaining people, an entire town’s worth of people,” said Patrick Dattilio, an organizer for Hagerstown Rapid Response. “The idea that our tiny little town is now going to be the center, the epicenter of this is, I think, simply too much for most of the people here.”