Judge orders pause on ICE detention center construction in Maryland
Source: Reuters
March 11, 2026 10:59 PM EDT Updated 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Maryland issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday to halt construction work on an immigration detention center after the state had sued citing environmental concerns.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown had argued that President Donald Trump's administration had not conducted a proper environmental review or received public input. The federal government spent more than $100 million on a 54-acre warehouse in Maryland's Washington County to convert it into a detention center capable of holding 1,500 people at a time, Brown said in February when the state sued.
U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson granted Maryland's request for a restraining order to immediately pause construction for up to 14 days while the court considered Maryland's broader legal challenge.
"The State has shown that Defendants likely failed to comply with their obligations under (the National Environmental Policy Act)," the judge wrote. "Defendants do not appear to have taken a 'hard look' at the potential environmental consequences of their plans for the Williamsport Warehouse," the judge added.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-orders-pause-ice-detention-center-construction-maryland-2026-03-12/
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://projectsaltbox.substack.com/api/v1/file/27439dd9-c71f-4108-b4de-bf0c6172aad5.pdf
(from Baltimore's "Project Salt Box" substack - Federal Judge Halts Construction of Maryland ICE Detention Facility
Original case story - Maryland A.G. files emergency motion to pause work on ICE detention facility
MD AG BROWN STATEMENT - Statement from Attorney General Brown on the Courts Order to Temporarily Halt Construction of Unlawful ICE Detention Facility in Washington County
Original FILING (PDF) - https://oag.maryland.gov/News/Documents/pdfs/Binder12.pdf
Doc_Technical
(3,757 posts)I pulled up behind a Cadillac
We were waiting for the light
And I took a look at his license plate
It said, "just ice"
Is justice just ice?
Governed by greed and lust?
Just the strong doing what they can
And the weak suffering what they must?
Oh, and the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
Sex kills
Doctors' pills give you brand new ills
And the bills bury you like an avalanche
And lawyers haven't been this popular
Since Robespierre slaughtered half of France!
And Indian chiefs with their old beliefs know
The balance is undone, crazy ions
You can feel it out in traffic
Everyone hates everyone
And the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
Sex kills
All these jack-offs at the office
The rapist in the pool
Oh, and the tragedies in the nurseries
Little kids packin' guns to school
The ulcerated ozone
These tumors of the skin
This hostile sun beating down on
Massive mess we're in
And the gas leaks
And the oil spills
And sex sells everything
And sex kills
Sex kills
Sex kills
Oh, sex kills
Sex kills
Wild blueberry
(8,250 posts)Very good organization. Pragmatic and effective. Thank you.
AverageOldGuy
(3,732 posts)Go from a warehouse -- probably with fewer than 100 employees to a concentration camp holding 1,500 -- at least that's what they are claiming. Of course ICE will upgrade the place with toilet, shower, food preparation and service, garbage and trash disposal, and medical facilities to a minimum of 1,500 people. To include facilities for housing single men, single women, minors, children, and families. Not to mention fire and EMS access . . . .
Sure thing.
NJCher
(43,012 posts)And Gov. Sherrill is hearing from hundreds of NJ citizens who want her to direct a similar suit for Roxbury.
In case you are unfamiliar with that case, a large warehouse in Roxbury, NJ that is unoccupied was sold by its owner to ICE. There has been strenuous opposition but they sneaked the sale through. The irony is that the owner of the warehouse should have been sympathetic to the cause of the protestors, having been a Romanian Jew whose family died in the Holocaust. Instead he sold it for double the asking price.
The protesters are not stopping. I believe the last protest drew over 2000 people. The protests are ongoing, but increase in size on the weekends.
The blueprints ICE has for the concentration camp show no place for any of the prisoners to visit with a lawyer. Nope, not a desk, not a room, nothing. There is a court decision that says they have to provide this. Can you imagine how much space they'd have to hand over to lawyers/clients in a warehouse this size?
bluestarone
(22,038 posts)I trust NOTHING with these creeps.