Maryland leaders face protests, challenges over proposed ICE detention centers as Trump immigration enforcement widens
Two Maryland counties -- Washington and Howard -- have faced protests over proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities, but the ownership of the buildings limits what actions they can take.
The Trump administration is planning to spend billions of dollars to expand detention facilities around the country, with more than 20 proposed to be built or retrofitted.
It comes as the government has detained a record number of people. More than 70,000 are in custody as part of growing immigration enforcement efforts.
Washington County warehouse
The federal government paid more than $100 million to buy a warehouse in Williamsport, Washington County, near Hagerstown, with plans to convert it into an ICE detention center with space for 1,500 beds.
Protesters were heard Tuesday morning inside the Washington County commissioners' meeting.
But Washington County leaders said they cannot stop the plans for a detention center because the federal government has already purchased the warehouse on Wright Road.
"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," Washington County administrator Michelle Gordon said.
As part of a prepared statement, she told the Board of County Commissioners, "Washington County has no jurisdiction to do anything. We are not the governing body that will be overseeing this project."
Gordon also told the board, "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."
Blocked in Howard County
Protests also erupted in Howard County Monday night.
County Executive Calvin Ball revoked building permits for a building on Meadowridge Road, which is privately owned.
"The creation of privately-owned detention facilities anywhere in our county, in our state, raises serious concerns about public health, safety, welfare, and oversight that must be addressed," Ball said.
Howard County is now considering emergency legislation that would block any privately-owned buildings from being used as detention centers.
Ball said McKeever Services, a third-party, applied for the renovation permit last year for the Meadowridge Road facility.
McKeever declined to comment to WJZ Investigates when contacted Tuesday.
According to a Howard County news release, "County inspections indicate much of the work covered by the permit is nearing completion. The most recent inspection was on December 29, 2025, and passed with conditions for additional inspections that would be required before any Use and Occupancy certificate could be issued."
Viral video in Baltimore
The move to stop the creation of new detention centers comes as some Democrats have criticized conditions at the Baltimore ICE holding facility, including in a viral video they said shows overcrowding.
"The point was made that they wanted one in Maryland so these people would not be flown out of the state. My firm belief is people are not packages and they don't belong at warehouses," Representative April McClain Delaney said Friday.
She told reporters, "It is a horrific thing for our country to have so many people going into these holding pens because of ICE's absurd amount of people they are pulling off the streets regardless of immigration status."
Maryland Republican State Senator Justin Ready sees it differently.
"I certainly can understand people who don't want a detention center in your backyard. So, that's one side of this. But honestly, if you're frustrated and concerned that ICE is housing too many people in small facilities, you should want them to build nicer new facilities, and if they don't do it here, you're going to have them sending all these people further out of state and further away from family members," said Ready, the Senate Minority Whip who represents parts of Carroll and Frederick counties. "So, to me, it's a bit of an irrational viewpoint to say we don't want a facility here."
Delegate Jesse Pippy, the House Minority Whip and a Republican representing Frederick County, told WJZ, "Both political parties have not done a good job over the past several decades at addressing our broken immigration system, and right now, immigration enforcement is hyper politicized."
Pippy was critical of action taken in both the Maryland House and Senate to approve bills that will end 287(g) agreements between local law enforcement agencies and ICE.
The bills would prohibit all state employees and agencies from entering into 287(g) agreements and would require that all existing agreements end.
"You now have a law on the books that prohibits local enforcement really from cooperating almost to any level with federal authorities—even with individuals who have committed serious offenses in our communities," Pippy said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to WJZ's request for comment Tuesday about the proposed detention centers in Washington and Howard counties.
