By Ashlee Banks
Special to the AFRO
Advocacy groups and members of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus are raising alarms over the disproportionate impact that new warehouse-style detention centers will have on the state’s Black migrant communities. Statistically, Black migrants already face longer detention periods and higher rates of disciplinary action while in custody.
U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.-4) told the AFRO he is concerned that if this facility is constructed there will be “racial profiling.”
“We have a lot of African immigrants here; I want to make sure they don’t get targeted in the same way Somali migrants were targeted in Minnesota,” said the Democratic lawmaker.
“We want to make sure that ICE gets reined in. They need a total overhaul,” he added. “They also need a completely new leadership structure at the top.”
Members of the Maryland congressional delegation have intensified their efforts to block the federal government from establishing a mass detention center in a Washington County warehouse, citing reports of “inhumane” conditions and a lack of transparency.
On Feb. 10, Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Md-06) introduced the Keep ICE Out of Washington County, Maryland Act, which seeks to prohibit the use of federal funds to operate or expand any immigration detention facility in the county.
The move follows the Department of Homeland Security’s $102.4 million purchase of an 825,000-square-foot warehouse in Williamsport. Lawmakers, including Maryland Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, have expressed alarm over the facility’s design, noting it currently contains only four toilets and two water fountains for a projected population of 1,500 people.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown filed a lawsuit on Feb. 23 to stop the construction of the ICE detention facility, alleging that DHS and ICE moved forward without the required environmental review, public participation or state consultation mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
According to a 2025 report from the Thurgood Marshall Institute, while Black immigrants represent only 5.4 percent of the undocumented population in the United States, they account for more than 20 percent of those facing deportation on criminal grounds, a disparity fueled by heavy policing and the frequent use of discretionary traffic stops.
Data from the Deportation Data Project further reveals that in the first half of 2025 alone, over 1,500 African migrants were arrested amid a federal crackdown where more than 65 percent of those in ICE custody had no criminal convictions. This aggressive enforcement is compounded by a lack of language services for African dialects in immigration courts and the erosion of sanctuary protections, leaving many vulnerable migrants trapped in an overcrowded system where, as noted by the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), they face higher rates of solitary confinement and are significantly less likely to be granted parole.
Rep. Ivey told the AFRO that one of his constituents, Rabbiatu Kuyateh, a veteran nurse who escaped the Sierra Leonean Civil War three decades ago, had maintained a stable life in the U.S. and consistently attended her mandatory ICE check-ins. However, a routine appointment in July 2025 ended in her detention, setting off a months-long odyssey through Maryland and Louisiana facilities before she was shackled and flown to Ghana, a nation entirely foreign to her. Despite a judge’s earlier ruling that she faced a credible threat of torture in her homeland, she was held in Ghana for several days and eventually forcibly repatriated to Sierra Leone, leaving her son, Mohamed Alghali, to lead a vocal public campaign for her return and for systemic justice.
“What happened to Kuyateh was illegal,” the Democratic lawmaker continued. “We have to keep fighting to make sure we turn the tide … we can win these fights.”
Alghali, Kuyateh’s son, told the AFRO that the Trump administration has put forth “false rhetoric” that immigrants are criminals.
“If you look up the numbers on the amount of people that are detained in the detention centers, a very small of them have actually been convicted of a crime,” he said.
“This administration we’re dealing with is kind of irrational,” continued Alghali. “I just want to keep fighting and keep advocating for us like they have been and keep pushing the courts.”
Congressional opposition has been further fueled by unannounced oversight visits to ICE’s Baltimore Field Office in February. U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-8) and other lawmakers reported witnessing severe overcrowding and detainees being held for days in windowless rooms originally designed for stays of less than 12 hours.
Raskin told the AFRO that citizens across the country are on “edge” about the presence of ICE agents and the unconstitutional acts that they have carried out in places like Minneapolis.
“Minneapolis teaches us that in order to survive ICE’s reign, there must be solidarity and collectively self-help,” said the lawmaker.
In a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the delegation accused the agency of obstructing congressional oversight by attempting to impose a seven-day notice requirement for facility inspections, a policy a federal judge recently ruled against.
In response, the Department of Homeland Security stated that the Williamsport site will meet regular detention standards and undergo community impact studies. The agency argued the facility would create over 1,000 jobs and provide $28.8 million in tax revenue while helping to remove “criminal illegal aliens” from the streets.
However, Maryland lawmakers contend the federal government is attempting to circumvent state laws, such as the Dignity Not Detention Act, by purchasing private property and bypassing local zoning.
The federal government has also proposed building detention facilities in Hyattsville and Salisbury. DHS has pursued a lease for nearly 20,000 square feet at 6505 Belcrest Road in Hyattsville, a site that has drawn intense local opposition due to its proximity to a church and a social services office. While the federal government maintains these sites are essential for processing and administrative efficiency under its new Detention Reengineering Initiative, Maryland lawmakers continue to demand answers on whether these facilities will include surveillance infrastructure and the capacity for overnight stays, effectively turning suburban office parks into part of a national warehouse-style detention network.