Judge pauses Maryland ICE warehouse plan

A federal judge on April 15 blocked the federal government from turning a western Maryland warehouse into an immigration detention site while Maryland’s lawsuit moves forward. (ocregister.com) Judge Brenden Hurson granted a preliminary injunction that stops construction and operation at the warehouse near Williamsport, in Washington County, and allows only limited security and repair work. (wypr.org) (oag.maryland.gov) Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown sued the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on February 23, 2026. A temporary restraining order first paused work on March 11, and the April 15 ruling extended that halt into the next phase of the case. (oag.maryland.gov) The state says federal officials moved ahead without the environmental reviews required for a project of this size. Maryland’s filings argue the site could strain local water and sewer systems and create public-health risks if it begins operating before those reviews are finished. (wtop.com) (wypr.org) The warehouse is about 820,000 to 825,000 square feet, and early plans described a facility that could hold as many as 1,500 detainees. Maryland said the town’s systems were built for a community of about 2,000 residents, not a round-the-clock detention operation of that scale. (wypr.org) (wtop.com) In court, the Trump administration said it had completed an environmental analysis and argued the project’s effects would be minimal. Federal lawyers also said the facility would initially hold up to 542 detainees and served a “compelling and critical national security interest” tied to immigration enforcement. (wtop.com) The fight in Maryland is part of a wider detention buildup. The Associated Press reported that federal officials bought 11 warehouses around the country and were reviewing a plan to hold tens of thousands of people in converted industrial buildings. (ocregister.com) Immigration and Customs Enforcement already runs a national detention network through its Enforcement and Removal Operations division, which holds people for immigration proceedings or removal. The Maryland warehouse would have added a new federally owned site to that system rather than using an existing jail or contract facility. (ice.gov 1) (ice.gov 2) For now, the warehouse stays a warehouse. The judge’s order keeps the site from opening as a detention center until the court decides whether the project can legally proceed. (oag.maryland.gov)