More than 200 people gathered outside a Washington County Commission meeting on February 3 in Hagerstown, Maryland, to express their concerns about a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center that appears to be planned for a location just outside of Williamsport.
According to county deed records, the facility was purchased by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in January 2026. In a statement issued January 28, the Washington County Commission said the county’s Planning and Zoning Department had received a letter from DHS on January 14 stating that the agency intends to establish “a new Baltimore ICE processing facility” in the 826,000-square-foot building located at 16220 Wright Road.
The commission’s statement also noted that the federal government is largely exempt from local zoning regulations.
To put the size of the planned ICE facility in Williamsport in context, the 826,000-square-foot building is significantly larger than these familiar local buildings:
- Ranson Civic Center: 40,000 sq. ft.
- Costco warehouse (Frederick, Md.): 148,000 sq. ft.
- Hollywood Casino (Charles Town): 200,000 sq. ft.
- Walmart (Charles Town): 212,000 sq. ft.
- Washington High School: 220,000 sq. ft.
A Nationwide Detention System
According to reporting in The Washington Post and other national news outlets, DHS is in the process of acquiring 15 additional facilities of similar size to serve as “processing sites,” each capable of holding up to 1,500 people. The department is also planning seven or more large-scale detention centers designed to hold between 5,000 and 10,000 people per site.
ICE documents related to these acquisitions state that the purpose of the new facilities is to “maximize efficiency, minimize costs, shorten processing times, limit lengths of stay, accelerate the removal process, and promote the safety, dignity, and respect of all in ICE custody.”
DHS has stated a goal of deporting 1 million individuals annually. In a December statement, the department reported that 605,000 individuals were deported in 2025.
At the same time, data show a significant shift in the makeup of the ICE detention population. According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, 6% of people detained by ICE in January 2025 did not have criminal records. By December 2025, TRAC reports that figure had risen to 40%.
Hagerstown Protest Images
