Hagerstown MD Warehouse — 1,500-Bed ICE Processing Center (Paused, Litigation) · MD · 1,500 · ICE (federal)

Note: This facility is commonly referred to as both “Hagerstown” and “Williamsport” — the warehouse is at 16220 Wright Road near Williamsport in Washington County, served by the Hagerstown area. See also williamsport-md-warehouse which covers the Goldman Sachs/Fundrise financial chain.

Overview

DHS purchased an 825,620-square-foot warehouse at 16220 Wright Road near Williamsport on January 16, 2026 for $102.4 million from FRND-Hopewell LLC (linked to Fundrise). ICE signed a $113 million renovation contract to convert it into a 1,500-bed detention center serving the Baltimore ICE field office. The project is now paused due to a federal court restraining order and the DHS-wide warehouse purchase pause under Secretary Mullin.

Key Details

Purchase price: $102.4 million
Purchase date: January 16, 2026 (deed signed Jan 22)
Renovation contract: $113 million (work planned March 6 – May 4, 2026)
Size: 825,620 sq ft, 50+ acres
Facility type: Regional processing center (one of 16)
Target completion: September 2026 (FY2026)
Seller: FRND-Hopewell LLC (linked to Fundrise, refinanced by Goldman Sachs)
Part of: ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative — $45 billion OBBBA funding

Legal Battle — State of Maryland v. DHS/ICE

Maryland AG Anthony Brown filed a federal lawsuit (Feb 23, 2026) charging ICE violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Administrative Procedure Act by proceeding without required environmental reviews, public notice, or consultation with state/local officials.

Court timeline:

March 11, 2026: U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson issued a Temporary Restraining Order halting all construction and retrofitting
March 19, 2026: TRO extended for four more weeks
April 10, 2026: Maryland called ICE’s claims “border on absurd” in filings
April 15, 2026: Hearing scheduled for ruling (no later than April 16)

Environmental Coalition Amicus

Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity, representing Potomac Riverkeeper Network and Washington County Indivisible, filed an amicus brief (March 26, 2026) arguing:

Wastewater would threaten state-protected green floater and brook floater mussels in adjacent waterways
Both species are awaiting federal Endangered Species Act listing decisions
Green floater has critical habitat proposed just downstream from the facility
Additional concerns: air pollution, traffic, public service burdens

Community and Political Response

Washington County Commissioners passed a proclamation of “unwavering support” for DHS/ICE on Feb 10, 2026 — met with so much booing the commission president cleared the room
Maryland Congressional delegation (Van Hollen, Alsobrooks, Mfume, Hoyer, Raskin, Ivey, Elfreth, McLain Delaney, Olszewski) pushed back on the facility
April 9, 2026: Protest rally at facility site while project paused
Community resistance is bipartisan — some residents have moral objections, others fear infrastructure strain

DHS Pause (April 2026)

On April 1, 2026, new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin paused all new warehouse purchases and is reviewing contracts signed under predecessor Kristi Noem. For Williamsport specifically, DHS said it will not redevelop the warehouse interior for housing detainees until it conducts an additional environmental analysis and makes a final decision. The agency stated it “will not be imminently pursuing any retrofitting work for detention purposes.”

Context

The Hagerstown purchase was one of the first wave of warehouse acquisitions under the Reengineering Initiative (alongside hamburg-pa-processing-center, surprise-az-warehouse, and others), funded by the $45 billion allocation from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) passed in July 2025. At least 7 warehouses purchased in 2026 for over $690 million total, aiming to raise detention capacity from under 40,000 to 70,000.

Detention Pipeline

Hagerstown MD Warehouse — 1,500-Bed ICE Processing Center (Paused, Litigation)