ICE Now Owns a Hagerstown Warehouse. A Plan to Design It Is in Shambles.
The first confirmed site in a proposed immigration detention network has been purchased near Hagerstown, even as the Native American nation tied to its design work says it has exited the contract
The 825,000-square-foot warehouse purchased by the federal government near Hagerstown this month has become the first physical beachhead for a sprawling new immigration detention network. But even as the deed was recorded in Washington County, a $29.9 million contract intended to design the facility — and facilities like it — was already beginning to collapse.
The property, located at 16220 Wright Road, is the first of 23 sites purchased by the federal government, and part of a short list of sites across the country identified in documents leaked to The Washington Post in December. These facilities — classified as “Processing Centers” for 1,500 people or “Mega Centers” for up to 9,500 — represent a massive escalation in detention capacity.
A review of property records in eight jurisdictions by Project Salt Box found no evidence of completed sales at any other site, making the Maryland warehouse the first confirmed purchase in the network. However, the connection between the facility and the firm hired to design it, KPB Services LLC, has sparked a backlash reaching from the Maryland panhandle to the plains of Kansas.
Tribal opposition and contract termination
The contract was awarded to KPB Services LLC, a subsidiary of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, a tribe whose ancestors were forcibly removed from the Great Lakes region by the U.S. government in the 1830s. After the deal became public, the tribe’s leadership took the extraordinary step of firing the economic development officials who negotiated it.
The contract award, which began on Nov. 29, 2025, was initially valued at $19 million before being modified to raise the ceiling to $29.9 million. This figure sits just under the $30 million threshold that would have triggered more stringent federal reporting and justification requirements.
Notably, the deal was marked as “not available for competition” and was authorized as a sole-source award under FAR 6.302-5(a)(2)(i), a federal rule that allows agencies to bypass full and open competition when a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the acquisition be made through a specific source —often used for tribal or minority-owned business programs.
In a Dec. 2025 address to the Nation, Tribal Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick framed the work as a violation of historical memory. “We know our Indian reservations were the government’s first attempts at detention centers,” Mr. Rupnick said. “We were placed here because we were prisoners of war. So we must ask ourselves why we would ever participate in something that mirrors the harm and the trauma once done to our people.”
The Nation has since announced it has successfully exited the contract award, leaving the design and “due diligence” of the Hagerstown site in legal and administrative limbo.
Local Friction in Washington County
While the tribe fights to distance itself from the project in Kansas, residents in Maryland are finding themselves silenced by a breakdown in local governance. The Washington County Board of Commissioners has stated it is powerless to stop the facility, citing the “Supremacy Clause” of the Constitution, which generally exempts federal projects from local zoning.
“The reaction has been mixed,” said Dave Williams, a member of the core leadership group for Washington County Indivisible. “You have people appalled and concerned, and then you have others saying, ‘More power to them.’ But the commissioners are just throwing up their hands. It’s what I call ‘obeying in advance’—they aren’t even trying to make an effort.”
The political climate has been further poisoned by the actions of Shaun Porter, a local provocateur whose disruptive behavior — including mooning and cursing at officials during public meetings — has fundamentally altered how the county conducts business. In a move that Mr. Williams says has co-opted the public process, the commission recently moved its meetings to the county administrative building downtown to strictly control physical access and has suspended public comment periods entirely.
“They’ve tried several different avenues to cut this guy off in a manner that’s legal, and since they aren’t required by law to have public comment, they’ve just stopped it altogether,” Mr. Williams said. “There is now no avenue to speak to them face-to-face. We’re going in with signs and questions just to have some kind of input.”
Washington County Indivisible has organized two silent protests for Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the County Administration Building. Demonstrators will gather at 9 a.m. for the 10 a.m. business meeting and again at 5 p.m. for the 6 p.m. municipal session. Bound by a 12-by-24-inch size limit on signs, participants intend to use the visual protest to bypass the commission's current suspension of public comment.
Infrastructure and “Processing Center” Concerns
The lack of public input has left critical questions about the site’s infrastructure and basic human needs unanswered. Originally designed as a shipping warehouse near the intersection of Interstates 70 and 81, the property was allotted only six Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) for water — a baseline utility load intended for a logistics hub, not a 1,500-person residential facility.
“If you’re going to put 1,500 people in there, you need significantly more water than that,” Mr. Williams noted. He pointed out that while the city of Hagerstown controls water allocations and has indicated it lacks the capacity for such a project, federal officials may attempt to bypass local systems entirely. “One of the commissioners suggested they can always drill wells on the property or truck water in. But trucking water for a facility of that size would be quite a task.”
Beyond water, the conversion raises questions about building codes and safety standards. While federal properties are often exempt from local zoning, government buildings are generally expected to adhere to high national standards, particularly for penal or detention institutions.
“Will they have to comply with the codes that apply to penal institutions, and who gets to inspect them to see that they are?” Mr. Williams asked. “Or do we just accept that it’s happening?”
Internal Homeland Security documents dated Jan. 12, 2026 obtained through a FOIA request provide a rare look at the planned transformation of the site. The agency intends to “rehabilitate” the 53-acre parcel into a “New ICE Baltimore Processing Facility” featuring specialized holding and processing areas, on-site medical spaces, and cafeteria amenities.
External work will include new security fencing, cameras, site lighting, and modular guard shacks. The plans even include the addition of outdoor recreation courts, a clear indicator of the building’s “residential” purpose.
While the government has declared a finding of “No Historic Properties Affected,” the project borders a site with ties to the influential Van Lear family dating back to the late 18th century. Despite the massive scale of the new facility, federal officials maintain it will not impact the historical integrity of a neighboring 19th-century springhouse.
A representative with the Washington County Historical Society declined to comment.
Washington County officials stated yesterday that they did not even receive the DHS letter until Jan. 14 — two days after ICE had already documented the County’s lack of comment in its internal reports. Washington County officials could not be reached for comment on whether this two-day gap allowed federal officials to move forward.
While the County’s public statement yesterday maintained that DHS “has not notified Washington County that a purchase has taken place,” the reality had already shifted. Public land records show the $102.4 million deed was recorded on Jan. 16, nearly a week before the County’s formal acknowledgement of the project’s “potential.”
Congressional Opposition
The lack of transparency has drawn sharp condemnation from Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md.), who represents the district. Following the confirmation of the warehouse purchase this week, McClain Delaney released a statement calling the acquisition a “cloak of darkness” operation.
“ICE’s covert acquisition of a warehouse in historic Williamsport—carried out without transparency, community input, or accountability—is unacceptable,” McClain Delaney said. “Let me be clear: planning a detention facility behind closed doors is not governance—it is intimidation.”
The Congresswoman, who recently joined a rally of hundreds of residents to oppose the facility, vowed to challenge the project alongside Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland delegation. “Our communities will not be steamrolled,” she said. “We will organize. We will show up. We will speak out. We will sue.”
A broader network for detention
The Hagerstown facility is intended to be part of a network that includes seven “Mega Centers” with a combined capacity for more than 80,000 people. One notable site on the list is in Chester, N.Y., where the warehouse is owned by a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises — founded by former Trump adviser Carl Icahn.
The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to questions regarding who will complete the design work now that the Potawatomi Nation has exited the contract, or whether the Maryland facility’s opening will be delayed.
Fantastic article and great journalism.
Excellent research and reporting. Thank you.