Federal Judge Orders Baltimore ICE Facility to Cap Detainees, Improve Conditions

A federal judge has ordered ICE to dramatically reduce the number of people held at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in downtown Baltimore and mandated immediate improvements to conditions that a court found violate the Fifth Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin issued a preliminary injunction on March 6 capping the facility's five holding rooms at 55 people total, down from a prior allowable count of nearly 226. She ordered ICE to provide adequate hygiene products, clean the rooms thoroughly every day, and conduct a basic medical screening within 12 hours of any detainee's intake. The judge also certified the detainees as a class in the litigation.

The conditions documented in court filings are stark. More than half of all detainees were held on days when the Baltimore hold rooms exceeded their maximum capacity of 56 people, according to court documents. On one occasion, the population climbed to 123, more than double that limit. At full historical capacity, each person would have had roughly 10 square feet of space, about the size of a bath towel. Multiple sworn declarations describe detainees being denied critical medications, including treatments for leukemia, HIV, diabetes, and high blood pressure. The rooms allegedly had no windows, no clocks, no calendars, and detainees were denied outdoor access or any recreational materials.

"The totality of the circumstances demonstrate a serious deprivation," Judge Rubin wrote. She added that conditions "woefully fail to comport with 'contemporary standards of decency.'"

A group of Maryland lawmakers made an unannounced visit to the facility on March 9, three days after the ruling, and found the holding rooms empty. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, along with Reps. Kweisi Mfume, Glenn Ivey, and Johnny Olszewski conducted the inspection and afterward gathered outside the building with Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott and City Council President Zeke Cohen.

Empty rooms did not soften their accounts of what they saw. Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Maryland Democrat who has spent four decades practicing law, described conditions inside in plain terms.

"I am disgusted by what I just saw," Ivey said. "I've been practicing law for 40 years and I've been in jails as a prosecutor and as a defense lawyer. I've interviewed witnesses and clients in jails, and I've never seen anything like that."

"Concrete floors, concrete benches, one toilet," Ivey continued. "It's shocking. It's un-American. It's illegal."

Lawmakers at the news conference also compared the holding rooms to cells in animal shelters. Van Hollen noted that one room carried a posted sign listing its maximum capacity as 70 people.

Rep. Kweisi Mfume warned the visit should not be read as reassurance. "I think they're getting ready for a surge and just won't seem to admit it," Mfume said. "But we're getting ready to deal with the surge and we are admitting it. Everything I've seen says that things are getting worse with ICE, not better."

ICE has previously denied allegations of inhumane conditions, saying the agency "remains committed to enforcing immigration laws fairly, safely and humanely." The agency has acknowledged overcrowding but attributed it to limited long-term detention capacity following Maryland's 2022 ban on renting detention space to ICE. For this story, ICE did not respond to requests for comment.

The lawmakers' visit also follows allegations, reported by multiple outlets, of a Legionella outbreak at the facility, which has not been independently confirmed. The congressional delegation's oversight trips have been a recurring response to sustained public pressure over conditions at the Fallon Building, which sits in the heart of downtown Baltimore.