We won a preliminary injunction against the ICE camp!
The Maryland Coalition to Stop the Camps and allies from across the state mobilized hundreds to rally inside and outside a federal district courthouse in Baltimore on Wednesday, April1 5, 2026, when a judge issued a preliminary injunction barring DHS from retrofitting a warehouse outside Hagerstown into a detention camp without a full environmental review.
The ruling vindicates our claims that the warehouse is an affront to health, safety and human dignity, and is testament to months of relentless pressure from activists in Washington County and across the state! It was both a big legal win for our movement–and also a moving day for those committed to ending ICE’s unjust practices.
At the rally, a CASA spokesperson shared how the movement against ICE is rapidly growing daily and what a difference each voice makes to changing policies and defending the rule of law. The Executive Director of the Maryland ACLU spoke about how due process and lawsuits like this one are are essential defenses to those in ICE custody. At the end of the rally, hundreds marched from outside of the courthouse to an interfaith vigil in front of the federal Fallon Building, where detainees are held in overcrowded, inhumane conditions. The interfaith vigil included a moving ceremony to honor those in our communities detained by ICE and the scores who have died in ICE custody.
Read more:
Hagerstown Rapid Response: Federal Judge to DHS: Your ICE Warehouse Arguments “Don’t Pass the Laugh Test”
Project Salt Box: Judge Halts ICE Warehouse Conversion in Maryland, Requires New Environmental Review
Baltimore Banner: Washington County ICE facility construction limited by federal judge
Baltimore Sun: Judge extends pause on work to turn Maryland warehouse into immigrant detention
WBAL-TV: Court battle over ICE detention center comes down to … toilets
Fox 5 DC: Judge pauses ICE facility plan in Hagerstown
ABC News: Judge extends pause on work to turn Maryland warehouse into immigrant detention
CBS News: Order to halt work at proposed Maryland ICE detention center extended
Maryland Matters: Hundreds rally against ICE as judge agrees to block detention center construction
Maryland Coalition to Stop the Camps 