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Activist Patrick Dattilio stands in front of a proposed ICE detention center in Williamsport, Md., Thursday, March 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Steve Helber\/AP<\/p>\n
A trailers outside a proposed ICE detention center in a small community in western Maryland known as a destination for weekend bicyclists and Civil War history buffs in Williamsport, Md., Thursday, March 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Steve Helber\/AP<\/p>\n
A stately southern mansion sits close to a proposed ICE detention center, top, in a small community in western Maryland known as a destination for weekend bicyclists and Civil War history buffs in Williamsport, Md., Thursday, March 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Steve Helber\/AP<\/p>\n
A security vehicle drives past trailers outside a proposed ICE detention center in a small community in western Maryland known as a destination for weekend bicyclists and Civil War history buffs in Williamsport, Md., Thursday, March 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Steve Helber\/AP<\/p>\n
A proposed ICE detention center in a small community in western Maryland known as a destination for weekend bicyclists and Civil War history buffs in Williamsport, Md., Thursday, March 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Steve Helber\/AP<\/p>\n
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) \u2014 Horns blared and protesters screamed \u201cStop ICE!\u201d outside a meeting on the western edge of Maryland where county officials were discussing mundane issues like the solid waste budget.<\/p>\n
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It’s been like this ever since the Department of Homeland Security bought an 825,000-square-foot (76,645-square-meter) building in Washington County as part of a plan to transform warehouses across the U.S. into detention facilities for tens of thousands of immigrants.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis is a facility built for packages, not people,\u201d Patrick Dattilio, the founder of an anti- Immigration and Customs Enforcement group called Hagerstown Rapid Response, said as he stood outside the county commission meeting.<\/p>\n
The federal government has faced fierce opposition in communities where it spent a total of $1.074 billion for 11 warehouses under a plan that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is reviewing. Washington County is the most welcoming community \u2014 a place where officials said they supported ICE, albeit amid whistles and jeers. The processing center there was supposed to be one of the first to open in a facilities project hatched under Mullin\u2019s predecessor, Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n
But now DHS’ plan for the Washington County building is paused \u2014 mired in a court battle like some of the other warehouse-to-detention projects across the U.S. Questions swirl about whether Mullin will move ahead with the facilities project or chart another course as he pursues President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation agenda.<\/p>\n
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County commissioners proclaimed their \u2018unwavering support\u2019 for ICE<\/p>\n
The sprawling blue-and-white warehouse in Washington County has been the subject of intense debate in part because of the way commissioners voiced their support for ICE.<\/p>\n
While repeatedly insisting that their hands were tied because the federal government already bought the building, the commissioners also approved a proclamation<\/a> during their Feb. 10 meeting declaring their \u201cunwavering support\u201d for DHS and ICE.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The proclamation, which didn\u2019t specifically mention the warehouse purchase, was met with so much booing and yelling that the commission president cleared the room.<\/p>\n The county wanted something, too. It forwarded the proclamation to Noem the next day in an email identifying hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sewer, airport and highway upgrades that it said were needed, according to a public records request received by local resident Ethan Wechtaluk, who’s running for Congress in the district that includes the warehouse.<\/p>\n