People of Maryland’s Sixth District Speak Out Against ICE’s Washington County Warehouse

Nearly 5,000 Sixth District constituents respond to a survey from Congresswoman April, expressing overwhelming opposition to the facility

Washington, DC-Yesterday, Congresswoman April McClain Delaney (MD-06) submitted a letter to the Department of Homeland Security to elevate the voices of her constituents who oppose ICE's planned large-scale detention warehouse in Washington County, Maryland. The letter was submitted as part of DHS's unreasonably short seven-day public comment period, which sought feedback only on the environmental implications of the proposed facility.

"As the Representative for Maryland's Sixth Congressional District, I [write] to voice the serious concerns of thousands of my constituents who have been improperly denied a reasonable and meaningful opportunity to provide public comments at the local and federal levels," she wrote.

"Based on what I have personally seen in Baltimore and with my colleagues when we brought a Congressional delegation to Minneapolis, I know that facilities of this type do not reflect our American values," she continued. "We have seen ICE operate with blatant disregard for humane conditions in detention facilities, violate individual rights, and deny due process, showing a clear pattern of systematic abuse. We must ensure that every human's dignity and rights are respected in the civil process - not criminal - of immigration enforcement."

The Congresswoman received nearly 5,000 responses to a survey that she distributed in February to constituents via her weekly newsletter, text messages, social media posts, and local media sources. As of February 28, more than 82% expressed their opposition to the facility. All respondents were given the option to provide a response, with 84% choosing to do so with an overwhelming majority sharing thoughts on their opposition.

The Congresswoman's letter included written thoughts from 10 respondents, which expressed concerns on DHS' lack of transparency as well as human rights, public health, community safety, local utilities, environmental impacts, and more.

A resident of Hagerstown wrote, "From a public health and community safety perspective, detention facilities do not make our communities safer. Instead, they place additional strain on local resources, exacerbate trauma for detained individuals and their families, and disproportionally impact immigrant communities who already face barriers to accessing care, legal representation, and local support."

A resident of Germantown wrote, "To quote a line from a movie - 'If you build it, they will come'. The more detention space ICE has available, the more people they will detain. Experience elsewhere, most notably recently in Minnesota, has shown that ICE will not limit its detentions to the 'worst of the worst' criminals who do not have legal authorization to be in this country; increasing numbers of United States Citizens are being detained by ICE, as well as others, including children, who are no danger to our society at large and had been in compliance with or making reasonable attempts to comply with our laws."

A resident of Williamsport wrote, "This facility is expected to hold 1500 detainees - over half the population of the town of Williamsport. These detainees are supposedly the "worst of the worst". They will be held in a building that was neither designed nor built to be a prison. These so-called 'criminals' will be located less than a quarter mile from 2 daycare facilities, and less than 3 miles from Williamsport schools. This puts our children in unnecessary danger."

A resident of Frederick wrote, "The building was bought in secrecy, without congressional oversight or public input, using over $100M in taxpayer dollars. This type of action should not occur in a democracy!"

Read the Congresswoman's letter which contains more comments from constituents.

In a separate letter to DHS yesterday, the Congresswoman and her colleagues from Maryland's Democratic Delegation in Congress voiced their strong opposition to the warehouse and condemned the agency's lack of regard for community input. The letter was led by the Congresswoman and Maryland's two Senators, Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, and also signed by Representatives Steny Hoyer, Jamie Raskin, Kweisi Mfume, Glenn Ivey, Sarah Elfreth, and Johnny Olszewski.

"This effort to establish a massive detention facility in Maryland is poorly-planned, goes against the will of our constituents, is unnecessary for a mission that truly targets the 'worst of the worst,' and given DHS's track record in this Administration, is likely to violate the constitutional and human rights of detainees. We urge you to immediately and completely halt DHS' plans to establish a detention facility in Maryland," the Members wrote.