Federal court grants order to pause work on proposed Maryland ICE detention facility
A federal court granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that immediately pauses construction or renovations to a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility near Hagerstown, Maryland, according to Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
Brown filed an emergency motion on Wednesday, asking the court to pause work on the building for up to 14 days until a separate lawsuit is decided in court.
The attorney general has another lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, which challenges the federal government's purchase and renovation of the warehouse in Washington County.
"Though temporary, this ruling stops the construction of this massive immigration detention center while our lawsuit continues to play out in court," Brown stated. "We will not let DHS and ICE rush through the proper legal process in their haste to ramp up deportations. We will keep fighting to make sure the law is followed, and Marylanders are protected."
$113 million contract awarded for construction
DHS recently awarded a $113 million contract to KVG LLC, a firm from Gettysburg, Pa., to renovate the proposed federal immigration detention and processing facility near Hagerstown.
The renovation and construction project was expected to begin on March 6 and is expected to be finished by early May.
Maryland A.G.'s lawsuit against DHS and ICE
Maryland's Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit against DHS and ICE to pause the work on the 825,000-square-foot warehouse in Washington County.
The 28-page lawsuit alleges that DHS and ICE disregarded federal law just so that they could quickly implement the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The lawsuit also claims that the federal government had not conducted an environmental review of the project or held a meeting for public comment.
According to the lawsuit, construction to the warehouse could cause sediment runoff and pollution to nearby Semple Run, a stream that feeds into the Conococheague Creek and ultimately the Potomac River.
Brown says the existing sewer and water infrastructure is "wholly insufficient to support a detention center of this size, greatly increasing the risk of inhumane conditions seen at other detention centers throughout the country and here in Maryland."
"We're asking the court to halt construction and operation of this facility," Brown stated last month. "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."
ICE purchased the 54-acre facility in Williamsport, Maryland, near Hagerstown, on Jan. 16 for $102.4 million, the lawsuit states. The property was built to serve as a commercial facility and has warehouse space, offices, four toilets, and two water fountains.
"According to DHS, the federal government intends to convert this industrial warehouse into a detention center capable of housing 1,500 people at a time," the lawsuit reads. "Williamsport itself is home to just over 2,000 residents – meaning this facility alone would nearly match the town's entire population."
DHS, in a statement to CBS Baltimore, says the "very well-structured detention facilities" will meet the regular detention standards, and the sites will undergo community impact studies and a due diligence process to make sure there is no negative impacts on local utilities or infrastructure.
DHS said the facility and its construction could open up to 1,125 jobs and would bring in about $28.8 million in tax revenue.
Attorney General Brown said the federal court's ruling to pause construction was a "critical victory, stopping construction that threatened our waterways, endangered species, and communities before irreversible harm could be done."
