Judge Extends Halt on ICE Conversion Work in Maryland, Seeks Fuller Review

Construction at a massive warehouse near Hagerstown that ICE is converting into an immigration detention facility will remain on ice through at least April 16, after U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson extended a temporary restraining order Thursday, citing the need for a fuller review of Maryland's environmental challenge to the project.

Hurson had originally issued the two-week restraining order on March 11, the same day Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown filed an emergency motion asking the court to halt work. That initial order was set to expire March 25. The extension gives the state time to file a motion for a preliminary injunction, which the federal government will oppose. Hurson wrote that he expects to rule on that motion at or shortly after a hearing he plans to schedule during the week of April 13 at the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse in Baltimore.

The facility at the center of the dispute is a former warehouse in Williamsport, Washington County, that the Department of Homeland Security purchased for $102.4 million from a private entity. The property spans 53.5 acres and encompasses 825,000 square feet. ICE then awarded a $113 million renovation contract to KVG LLC to convert the building into a detention facility capable of holding up to 1,500 people. Before Hurson's extension, that renovation contract was slated to run through May 4.

Brown sued ICE and DHS in early March, alleging the federal government bypassed two federal statutes: the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires agencies to assess environmental consequences before major projects, and the Administrative Procedure Act. "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."

The attorney general's lawsuit alleges the completed facility would hold 1,500 detainees. The complaint framed that number starkly: "This facility alone would nearly match the town's entire population."

ICE pushed back on how critics have characterized the project. "These will not be warehouses — they will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards," the agency said in a statement. "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."

The Williamsport project is not the only sign of expanding ICE infrastructure in Maryland. Reporting by the Baltimore Sun identified an apparent stockpiling of supplies tied to ICE operations in the state, including a fleet of 60 unmarked vehicles and a spike in orders of shelf-stable meals. DHS did not directly address whether more ICE agents will be operating in Maryland or whether a spike in immigration arrests is expected.

Closer to Baltimore, a parallel legal dispute has unfolded over detention conditions at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in downtown Baltimore, where a limited number of detainees have been held in hold rooms designed for stays of less than a day. Some detainees were held there for more than a week in what court filings described as inhumane conditions. U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin earlier this month ordered ICE to cap the hold rooms at 56 detainees at a time.

The April 13 week hearing on the preliminary injunction will effectively determine whether construction remains halted for the duration of the litigation, or whether ICE can resume the conversion project while the broader legal questions are resolved.