After halting of Maryland ICE facility, DHS spokesperson mocks ruling

Luke Parker, Baltimore Sun on Mar 19, 2026

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A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from outfitting a Western Maryland warehouse as an immigration detention center until at least mid-April, when a hearing could determine the fate of the entire project.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson paused construction on the Washington County building as an environmental lawsuit between the state and federal governments pushed forward. If approved, the facility could house 1,500 detainees of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more than half the population of the town where it’s located.

On Thursday, the judge extended his temporary restraining order on construction until no later than April 16, his expected deadline for a ruling on whether to stop the project altogether. In his order, Hurson said a hearing would need to be scheduled sometime that week at the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse.

In a statement Thursday to The Baltimore Sun, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security criticized Hurson’s decision and the state’s lawsuit as serving a political agenda more than an environmental one.

“Let’s be honest about this. This ruling isn’t about the environment. It’s about trying to stop President Trump from Making America Safe again,” the spokesperson said. “The left didn’t care about the mountains of litter that illegal aliens dropped on ranches and riverbeds during Biden’s border crisis. They’re feigning concern now because they want those same illegal aliens to stay forever and vote here.”

Representatives for the Maryland Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DHS bought the 53-acre property in Williamsport, outside Hagerstown, for $102 million in January and approved a $113 million contract in early March to refit the warehouse into “a processing and detention facility.” An ICE spokesperson told The Baltimore Sun that the agency expects its “very well-structured detention facilities” to create 1,125 jobs and generate about $28.2 million in tax revenue.

Gov. Wes Moore, Attorney General Anthony Brown and other state leaders have criticized the project as lacking transparency and oversight. Following up, Brown’s office sued the Trump administration in late February over its plans in Western Maryland, accusing the federal government of bypassing environmental review procedures before making its nine-figure purchase.

Closer to the site, although unaware of the purchase at first, the Washington County Board of Commissioners quickly endorsed ICE to “maintain public safety and uphold the rule of law.” As to how the property is used, the board, made up entirely by Republicans, wrote in a Jan. 28 statement that it is “not able to legally restrict the federal government’s ability to proceed.”

The court battle in Western Maryland comes amid challenges over some of ICE’s other administrative decisions across the state.

In Howard County, for instance, a legal back-and-forth over a potential Elkridge facility escalated Friday when its developer asked the court to repeal a prohibition on private detention centers while their lawsuit is litigated. Days earlier, the attorney general’s office filed a second complaint against ICE — this time over alleged attempts to block a civil rights investigation into “holding room” conditions in Baltimore for people facing deportation.

Despite a viral video of a cramped holding area in the city’s federal building, ICE officials have rejected accusations of “subprime conditions or overcrowding” as false. In a separate statement to The Sun, the agency said that its facility in Williamsport will meet “our regular detention standards,” as well.

Outside of the courtroom, an apparent stockpiling of supplies, including a fleet of 60 unmarked vehicles and a spike in orders of shelf-stable meals, join the challenged buildings as signs that ICE is directing more resources to Maryland.

The Department of Homeland Security has not directly addressed whether there will be more ICE agents operating in Maryland, or if a spike in immigration arrests can be expected.

Before Thursday’s extension of the halt on construction, this month’s contract for renovations at the Williamsport warehouse was slated to end May 4.