CIRS Mold Toxicity Treatment in Hagerstown, MD

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —

Two signatures sent a unified message from state and local elected officials in Maryland to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The first was a warning letter Gov. Wes Moore sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. The second was emergency legislation that Howard County Executive Calvin Ball signed into law.

Both represented an attempt to put guardrails on what ICE can and can't do in the state.

It was unanimous, bipartisan and swift. In one week, Howard County officials drew up and passed an emergency measure that councilmembers said draws a clear line in the sand over federal immigration actions.

"This is indeed an emergency," said Howard County Council Chair Opel Jones, D-District 2.

With an emergency bill signing on Friday, Howard County officially blocked a 29,000-square-foot private immigration detention center from opening in an office building on Meadowridge Road in Elkridge.

"In just seven days, we proved that when our values are clear, our action can be swift," Ball said.

The legislation that is now a law received unanimous and bipartisan approval from the Howard County Council on Thursday. It bans permits for private detention centers.

"In this moment when we are being tested, Howard County understood the assignment," Moore said.

It comes amid ongoing debate and public protests over ICE enforcement actions across the country and the Trump administration's plan to open and operate an ICE detention center just outside of Hagerstown at a 54-acre warehouse property it just bought for $102 million.

It is not permitted or zoned for human habitation, Washington County officials said. However, they can't enforce local code on a building owned by the feds.

On Friday, Moore basically said "We'll see about that."

"It is not going to be stood for and is not going to be supported by the people here in the state of Maryland," Moore said.

Moore directed agency heads and the attorney general to review all applicable law and all available options.

In the letter to Noem decrying the lack of transparency, Moore expressed concern about near-capacity water and sewer systems, and the drain on public safety resources.

"We want the federal government to know that we are not blind nor oblivious to all the various levers that we can use to make sure that our people are protected," Moore said.

WBAL-TV 11 News reached out to DHS but has not heard back about the Washington County warehouse and the governor's warning.

An ICE spokesperson said the agency has no plans to open a detention center or purchase a facility in Howard County.

— WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore (@wbaltv11) February 6, 2026

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.

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.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD (January 28, 2026) – On January 14, 2026, a letter addressed to the Historic District Commission, Washington County Planning and Zoning Department was received from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The letter indicated that DHS was analyzing the potential purchase of the warehouse at 10900 Hopewell Road (A/K/A 16220 Wright Road), Williamsport, MD, to establish a “new ICE Baltimore Processing Facility” for use by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Elements of the project mentioned in the letter include, “construction of holding and processing spaces, office space, public-facing visitor space and installation of amenities, such as cafeterias, bathrooms, and health care spaces”. Proposed site improvements mentioned in the letter include, but are not limited to, “installing, upgrading, or rehabilitating existing parking areas, fencing, site lighting, landscaping, drainage/stormwater, recreation areas and cameras. Tentage and guard shacks may also be installed.”

The letter was sent under a federal law that requires DHS to inform the local government of its determination on whether the project impacts historic property. In the letter, DHS communicated that the undertaking results “in a finding of No Historic Properties Affected”. The federal law in question does not give the County any opportunity to overrule that determination.

Generally, the Federal Government does not need to respect local zoning regulations that conflict with federal mandates (often referred to as the Supremacy Clause). As such, federal government entities historically have not sought the zoning approval of Washington County Government for projects and has not done so with respect to the property at 16220 Wright Road.

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. 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.

For additional information, please contact Washington County’s Public Relations and Marketing Department at 240-313-2380.