Washington County Plays Word Games with Records Requests, Approves ICE Support Resolution Amid Protests

“Why are you operating in secret?” read one protest sign today outside the County Commissioners meeting in Hagerstown, Maryland. And while protesters both inside and outside attempt to fight to somehow stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from converting a warehouse in Williamsport into a processing facility, Radio Free Hub City has been fighting our own fight, not for or against the proposed facility, but for transparency regarding the facility.

We currently have multiple Maryland Public Information Act and Freedom of Information Act requests open with various government entities, including Department of Homeland Security and Washington County Government. So far, one of those requests has been fulfilled, our request for the letter from DHS to Washington County Government.

According to Washington County Government, the letter was received on January 14, 2026. However the County did not release the existence of the letter until January 28th, one day after we broke the news that we had obtained a copy of the deed verifying the warehouse had been sold to DHS. As soon as we learned of the letter’s existence we requested a copy of the letter through the Maryland Public Information Act.

And while ICE provided us a statement on the matter, Washington County Government has ceased replying to any of our media inquiries, and direct all requests to the MPIA portal, which typically takes 30 days for a response.

And while we thought at the time that this was simply Washington County misreading our original email, it has now become clear that the county intends to delay or deny as many records requests related to this as is legally possible.

This approach became apparent when the county attempted to deny one of our requests on a technicality. When we requested the DHS letter on January 28, 2026, the letter had not yet been released. Therefore, we also requested information on why it had not been released. After releasing the letter on January 29, a day after our request, the county waited until February 9th to close our request, pointing us to the DHS letter. After notifying the county that the MPIA request was not for the letter, but records showing why the letter had not been released (which was the case on January 28th), the county claimed that the letter had been released and therefore there were no responsive records. We have since submitted a new request changing the request to include the word “DELAY” and requested expedited processing due to the county’s word games, but legally the clock now restarts with the request, allowing the county to further delay responding.

Amid all of the protests and delayed transparency, the County Commissioners pushed forward today to pass a resolution in support of DHS, ICE, and local law enforcement. As has been the norm for all of the recent County Commissioner meetings, there was no period for public comment, but when the Board unanimously approved (minus Commissioner Derek Harvey, who was absent from the meeting) the resolution, the crowd made their voices known to the point that Commissioner Barr gaveled and cleared the room to regain order.

So what do we and don’t we know regarding the proposes processing facility?

Here’s what we do know:

• The warehouse at 16220 Wright Road was sold on January 16th, two days after Washington County received the DHS letter
• The warehouse being transferred to Federal control likely means the loss of over $700,000 per year in property tax revenue for Washington County.
• The property will undergo extensive modifications to support becoming a processing facility, which DHS has stated will not impact nearby historic resources
• While the BOCC has not endorsed the facility directly, they have issued a resolution in support of DHS, ICE, and local law enforcement

What we don’t know:

• The full extent of modifications inside of the warehouse, and who will perform the modifications
• The target capacity of the warehouse
• Plans for water/sewer capacity increase
• If the facility will be operated exclusively by ICE employees, or if third party contractors will be brought on site
• If an environmental assessment was conducted, and if so the results of that assessment
• If any tribal feedback was received in objection to the facility
• What exactly is a “processing facility” and how does it differ from a detention facility?
• How much input will Washington County and the State of Maryland have into the project, especially since the county or state will likely be transferred the property should ICE ever discontinue its usage?

We will continue to investigate and monitor for updates on this developing story.

All of our documentation regarding the ICE Warehouse is available in our archive.

Story by Ken Buckler based upon communication with Washington County Government, the February 10, 2026 BOCC meeting, and public records available in our archive.

---