From the Daily Caller: Democratic lawmakers in Maryland rushed emergency legislation to block local police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immediately after a new ICE facility was announced in the state Wednesday.
The Department of Homeland Security sent a letter to the Historic District Commission and Washington County Planning and Zoning Department in mid-January flagging a potential warehouse purchase for a “new ICE Baltimore Processing Facility,” according to a Thursday statement from the county. The letter detailed plans for holding and processing spaces, offices, a public visitor area, cafeterias, bathrooms and health care facilities.
Federal law requires DHS to notify local governments when projects may impact historic property, but the county has no legal authority to block the purchase — and DHS never notified the county directly that it had gone through. The deed, recorded Jan. 22, shows DHS paid $102.4 million for the 825,620-square-foot Hagerstown warehouse, according to Project Salt Box, which tracks federal property procurement to “help neighbors prevent ICE.”
Salt Box said Hagerstown is one of many warehouses nationwide marked for potential detainee holding operations.
The report explains that Maryland’s Dignity Not Detention Act, prohibits the state from entering new contracts allowing ICE to conduct civil immigration detentions in local or state facilities.
However, by building its own detention center, ICE can hold illegal immigrants without relying on state cooperation.
Now Democrat lawmakers in Maryland have rushed legislation through that would end any agreements between local police and federal immigration authorities.
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