blocked — Baltimore County Council passed an emergency bill 6-0 on Feb 17, 2026 amending county zoning to bar permits for detention centers, jails, or other facilities used for 'involuntary confinement,' with authority to suspend or revoke permits issued since Jan 1, 2026. County- and state-run facilities are exempt. The emergency session, requested by County Executive Kathy Klausmeier, was triggered by ICE leasing ~16,365 sq ft at 201 International Circle in Hunt Valley for its Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

preemptive-defense — Council President Zeke Cohen's bill to establish 'private detention center' as a prohibited land use citywide cleared the Land Use & Transportation Committee without opposition on April 30, 2026 and moved to the full City Council (full-council action scheduled May 11, 2026). The bill is co-sponsored by 12 of 15 councilmembers and bans private contractors — but not federal buildings — from operating detention facilities anywhere in the city. It is the third layer of Baltimore's 2026 anti-ICE stack, following the Safe Spaces and Communities Act (passed 14-0 on March 23, 2026, barring ICE from city buildings and limiting police cooperation) and a parallel pension-divestment proposal.

won — County revoked building permit Feb 2, 2026 and passed emergency ban on privately owned detention centers.

litigation — U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson granted a preliminary injunction on April 15, 2026 blocking DHS retrofitting and full construction of the warehouse-to-detention conversion. First successful state-level NEPA challenge in the warehouse-conversion line. Court found State 'shown that Defendants likely failed to comply with their obligations under NEPA' and that DHS did not appear to have taken 'a hard look at the potential environmental consequences.' Construction enjoined except for security installation, perimeter fencing, office drywall, HVAC repair, and roof work pending litigation. KVG LLC's warehouse-conversion contract halted (per Em Knepp / Project Saltbox April 2026 procurement analysis). The ruling is the precedent New Jersey, Michigan, and Arizona are pleading their cases on. UPDATE (May 12 / May 20, 2026): rather than appeal, DHS determined an Environmental Assessment is warranted for the site and agreed to re-engage Section 106 historic-preservation consulting parties — a NEPA-compliance reversal of its earlier categorical-exclusion posture, paralleled at the NJ Roxbury site (Bloomberg Law, May 20).