Overview

A long-vacant warehouse in Williamsport, Maryland (rural western Maryland) is being converted into a 1,500-bed ICE detention center. The financial trail illustrates how the detention expansion functions as a wealth-rescue mechanism for institutional investors holding distressed assets.

Ownership and Financial Chain

1. The warehouse served as a series of failed food processing and industrial facilities
2. Most recently owned by Fundrise, a direct-access alternative asset manager that allows investors to buy portions of properties
3. The facility never took off — Fundrise consistently listed its continued vacancy as a liability on SEC financial disclosures
4. In late 2025, Goldman Sachs refinanced the property as part of a $352 million loan — months before DHS purchase
5. The property was then sold to the Department of Homeland Security

The Pattern

The Goldman Sachs refinancing is significant: by refinancing a distressed property months before a federal purchase, Goldman positioned itself to recover its investment through the taxpayer-funded acquisition. The property went from being a listed liability on Fundrise’s SEC filings to a profitable exit via the ICE expansion.

Legal Challenge

A judge extended a restraining order against ICE detention operations at the Williamsport facility. Maryland has also passed the Dignity Not Detention Act to resist the warehouse program.

Goldman Sachs Connections

Goldman Sachs is also the former majority owner of the Roxbury, NJ warehouse purchased by ICE for $129.3 million (137% over value). Goldman’s Trump ties include Gary Cohn (NEC Director, first term) and Steve Mnuchin (Treasury Secretary, first term), plus second-term appointments.

Goldman Sachs told More Perfect Union: “As a lender, we are not involved in the operations and management of the portfolios of assets we lend to.”

Sources

• The World’s Biggest Banks May Be Benefiting from the ICE Warehouse Craze — More Perfect Union (April 7, 2026)
• SEC financial disclosures (Fundrise)