Washington County Backs ICE Detention Facility, Then Cuts Meeting Short Amid Protests

Board votes unanimously to support immigration enforcement, then clears room as demonstrators respond with shouts and whistles

UPDATED at 12:10 PM:

Dave Williams, a member of the Washington County Indivisible chapter said that today’s decision was unsurprising.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised by the Commissioners’ resolution. Washington County’s officials are on the wrong side of history but the citizens are not and we’ll keep reminding them from now to Election Day.”

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The Washington County, Md., Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to support federal immigration enforcement operations, including a detention facility they have said they were never consulted about, then abruptly ended the meeting as protesters responded with shouts and whistles.

“That’s it, clear the room,” John F. Barr, the commission president, said immediately after the vote. “Off air, off air.”

The live stream cut off.

The resolution expressed the board’s “full support” for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, stating that cooperation between federal and local agencies is “vital for the effective enforcement of laws.” It made no mention of the detention facility planned for a warehouse the federal government purchased last month for $102.4 million.

The vote formalized what the commissioners had already signaled: that they would not oppose converting an 825,000-square-foot warehouse in Williamsport into a facility to hold up to 1,500 people.

Protesters gathered inside and outside the hearing room. Public comment at commission meetings remains suspended.

A Board With National Security Ties

The five commissioners who voted for the resolution include one member with direct ties to President Trump’s first administration and national security policy.

Derek Harvey, a retired Army colonel, served as Mr. Trump’s top Middle East adviser on the National Security Council in 2017 before being dismissed by then-national security adviser H.R. McMaster. Mr. Harvey later worked as lead investigator for Representative Devin Nunes, Republican of California, on the House Intelligence Committee, where he was involved in Republican efforts to challenge the Russia investigation into Mr. Trump.

Before joining the commission, Mr. Harvey worked as a senior intelligence executive and consultant focused on national security issues. His official biography describes him as an “Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer and decorated ARMY Colonel” who received a Bronze Star and multiple Meritorious Service Medals.

The other commissioners are Mr. Barr, an electrician who has served on the board since 2006 and was previously president of the Maryland Association of Counties; Jeffrey A. Cline, a realtor and former Williamsport town councilman; Randall E. Wagner, a Coast Guard veteran and former small business owner; and Randal Leatherman, who has served on various fire departments and emergency response committees.

The Hagerstown facility is the first of what leaked documents suggest could be a network of up to 25 detention sites under consideration nationwide. Six other facilities have been purchased in Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.

Five additional warehouse purchases in Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and Minnesota were blocked after community activists staged protests in front of the proposed ICE detention processing centers, and contacted local officials and property owners to voice opposition.

From ‘Not Notified’ to Pledging Support

As reported yesterday, the unanimous vote marked a reversal from the county’s initial response when news of the facility became public.

In late January, county officials said they had not been notified about the plan and were powerless to stop it because of federal authority.

On Jan. 28, the county issued a statement saying the Department of Homeland Security “has not notified Washington County that a purchase has taken place.” The deed had been recorded on Jan. 16.

County officials later acknowledged receiving a consultation letter from the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 14 — two days after ICE had documented in internal reports that the county had not commented. By the time residents learned about the facility, the federal consultation process required by law had been completed.

Rather than challenge that process or support residents who are doing so in court, the commissioners voted to formalize their support.

Concerns From State Leaders

Before the meeting, Maryland’s two senators wrote to the commissioners expressing concern about the facility.

Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, both Democrats, said in a statement that the warehouse “will further fuel the Trump administration’s cruel and inhumane immigration agenda — which has been marked by arrests of scores of people who pose no threat to public safety, violations of individuals’ due process rights, and reports of unsafe conditions in detention facilities, among other harms.”

The senators also warned that “using a building not designed or zoned for residential confinement risks overburdening county infrastructure, public health systems and first response capabilities.”

The warehouse was allocated only six Equivalent Dwelling Units for water — suitable for a logistics operation but far short of what would be required for 1,500 people, according to an investigation by Project Salt Box, a nonprofit news organization.

A procedural challenge has been filed with the Maryland Historical Trust alleging the government used an incorrect address during historic preservation review, potentially invalidating the approval process.

Representative April McClain Delaney, a Maryland Democrat, has called the project a “cloak of darkness” operation carried out without transparency or community input.

Washington County Indivisible, a progressive advocacy group, organized the protests at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Economics

The resolution emphasized public safety and the rule of law but made no reference to the facility’s cost or economic impact.

Last year, the warehouse generated more than $300,000 in combined state and local property tax revenue as a commercial logistics operation. Federal facilities are generally exempt from local property taxes.

An investigation by Project Salt Box found that operating costs for detention facilities of this scale can run approximately $200 per person per day. For a 1,500-bed facility, that would total $300,000 daily, or about $110 million annually.

The resolution takes effect immediately and will be sent to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and local law enforcement agencies.

Federal documents indicate the facility will include “holding and processing spaces,” cafeterias, office and health care spaces and other areas. The Trump administration has not commented on specific plans for the site.

The facility in Hagerstown is the first confirmed purchase in what leaked documents suggest is a network of up to 25 detention sites under consideration nationwide. Six other facilities have sold in states including Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona.

The purchase of five additional warehouses in Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Minnesota were blocked by community activists contacting city and county officials, as well as contacting the owning businesses of these warehouses to voice their opposition.