The state of Maryland sued the Trump administration Monday to try to stop plans to convert a warehouse into an immigration detention facility in Washington County, according to the Maryland attorney general’s office.
The Department of Homeland Security bought a warehouse, in January for $102 million, in the Williamsport area — about an hour and a half from the District near the border with West Virginia and home to about 2,000 people.
In the lawsuit, Maryland officials said the 825,620-square-foot commercial warehouse was purchased with “the intention” of transforming it into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility with 1,500 beds. But, they say, the Trump administration did not conduct an environmental review nor seek public input on the project or provide a reasoned explanation on their decision-making, as required by law.
The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland against DHS and ICE, comes as the federal government has planned to renovate warehouses across the country into detention centers. A new congressional bill aims to try to stop DHS from opening the sites without the consent of state and local officials.
“Federal law gives Marylanders the right to know when and how detention facilities are built in their communities,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D) said in a video statement Monday. “That right was denied. Today, our office is taking them to court.”
In a statement, DHS said the lawsuit “isn’t about the environment. It’s about trying to stop President Trump from making America safe again.”
“These will not be warehouses — they will be very well-structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards,” the agency said. “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 spokesperson said agency Secretary Kristi L. Noem has said “she is willing to work with officials on both sides of the aisle” on the effort. Funding for the expansions was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill, the agency said.
ICE expects the Williamsport building to begin accepting detainees by April, a person briefed on the plan previously told The Washington Post.
The Maryland lawsuit accused the Trump administration of purchasing the warehouse and making conversion plans without steps required by law and that the federal agency has taken with other immigration detention projects. Officials say DHS and ICE also failed to consider reasonable alternatives.
Maryland officials say in the lawsuit that the proposed ICE detention facility could harm the environment, including a waterway that flows to the Potomac River and serves as a habitat to protected species. They allege the project could also hurt other areas, including air quality and traffic.
Conditions in detention centers nationwide reveal “concerning evidence of a measles outbreak, sewage problems, and generally unsanitary conditions,” the lawsuit said.
Brown said Maryland officials want the federal court to stop construction and operation of the facility, require a “proper environmental review with full public input” and declare the administration acted unlawfully.
In the lawsuit, Brown cites a report from The Arizona Mirror saying ICE leadership last April described their goal for deportation activities to “operate ‘like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings.’”
The planned detention centers have sparked protests in Washington County and some other communities. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) has said he opposes plans to open a new detention center in that state, while Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is reportedly considering filing a lawsuit to stop a center there.
And in Maryland, officials in Howard County recently revoked a building permit for a long-term detention facility planned in Elkridge, about 30 miles from D.C.
The Maryland lawsuit, citing records released by New Hampshire’s governor, quotes a document labeled “ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative” that says the agency plans to implement “a new detention model” by the end of the 2026 fiscal year that would increase capacity to 92,600 beds.
The lawsuit says the federal government appears “to be moving at breakneck speed to implement its agenda,” and said Maryland officials have had to “piece together factual developments from public reporting and limited available documentation.”
DHS sent letters on Jan. 12 to the Maryland Historical Trust and the Washington County Historic District Commission to “initiate consultation” on the project, and said ICE had determined the project would not affect historic properties.
Days later, ICE purchased the 54-acre site containing the warehouse — “without awaiting any response from the Maryland Historical Trust.” According to the lawsuit, the Maryland Historical Trust pressed for more information about the project but has not received a response from DHS.
The state argued that the warehouse, built between 2021 and 2o23, is not designed to accommodate 1,500 people. They noted, for example, in a news release on the lawsuit that the building has only four toilets and two water fountains. The planned conversion, the lawsuit said, “could overwhelm the existing sewer lines serving the property” that could result in “backups and overflows that would likely impact downstream waters.”
Maryland House Republicans criticized the state’s lawsuit, saying Democrats are “engaging in virtue signaling” and attempting to position Maryland as a sanctuary state.
“Democrats complain about detainee conditions in Baltimore for locally based individuals being held by federal authorities. They complain when locally based detainees are sent to far-flung facilities in other states to go through the deportation process,” said state House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany). “Now, they complain when the federal government undertakes efforts to construct a modern, safe and hopefully humane facility for federal detainees.”
Buckel said Washington County has “already approved the transaction, where substantial sums of taxpayer money have already been spent” and “in an area where apparently no local zoning rules or regulations are being violated.”
Since taking office, President Donald Trump and his administration have ramped up immigration enforcement, saying it’s to remove people who are in the country illegally. “We’re putting American citizens first, we’re defending American lives,” Trump said Monday at an event hosted for “angel families,” or relatives of people killed by immigrants in the country illegally.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) recently signed legislation barring local law enforcement agencies in Maryland from entering 287(g) agreements with ICE. Nine sheriff’s offices in Maryland had such agreements. Some Republican state lawmakers criticized the move as taking authority away from local officials, and they suggested it could lead to more federal activity in the state.
Moore has been a frequent critic — and target — of the president. Recently, Trump alleged Moore mishandled the response to the Potomac sewage spill. Moore has said the spill occurred on federal property, and that the state has devoted other resources to help in the response.
In a news release announcing the DHS and ICE lawsuit, Moore said that “no administration is above the law.”
“Our people must be heard when the federal government makes decisions that affect their health, their safety, and their communities,” Moore said.
Ama Frimpong, legal director for We are Casa, an immigrant advocacy organization, said in a statement Monday that “we cannot allow the federal administration to deepen its detention footprint in our state behind closed doors.”
“Marylanders have made clear that we do not want more ICE in our streets, detention facilities in our neighborhoods or fear in our communities,” Frimpong said. “We support AG Brown’s leadership and Governor Moore’s efforts and urge state officials to use every available tool to block the expansion of the mass deportation machinery.”
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