With its civil war memorials, rolling hills and quaint houses, Williamsport, Md. looks straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. In the middle of it all, there's an enormous warehouse, scheduled to become one of the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in the country. It's part of ICE's plan to massively expand its detention system using the historic $45 billion Congress allocated the agency to do so.
But in many cities and towns, detention expansion is being met with resistance from Democrats and Republicans.
"Did you see the building?" A man named Donnie Dagenhart asks at the parking lot of the local Walmart, which is just a few minutes away from the new detention site. "It's huge." It is massive: if it gets built, the 825,000 square foot warehouse that ICE bought is projected to hold at least 1,500 people. Williamsport has a population of around 2,000.
Washington County is conservative: it voted for President Trump in the last election. In February the county board unanimously approved a resolution welcoming ICE, which was immediately met with angry local protests. Dagenhart, who owns a local construction company, says he supported Trump for years, but he's recently changed his tune. Among other things, he disagrees with how immigration is being enforced. "I just think we're living in a police state and it's getting worse," says Daggengart. "They're getting the wrong people. Let's get the bad ones out. That's what we should be doing, but we're not."
A similar tug of war is playing out in many towns across America as ICE expands its detention system. Some of the concerns are ethical: Aaron Peteranecz lives near the site. He says he has a moral problem with converting a giant warehouse into a place to hold human beings. "I went to Germany in grad school. I went to a few concentration camps, and the one thing that struck me the most about that, was you're standing at the gate to these camps, and it's just the town around you. And so people were just living their lives right next to these things, and this feels that same way."
Peteranecz says he's specifically worried about conditions in ICE detention. ICE is on track for one of its deadliest years on record for detention, with 24 fatalities since October.
In the last few months, activists and local governments across the country have successfully pushed back against ICE's efforts to expand. In Kansas City, Missouri, in Oklahoma City, and smaller towns like Merrimack New Hampshire, widespread protests have blocked new ICE facilities. In other locations, residents say they are frustrated with what they see as a lack of pushback from local leadership. In the town of Roxbury, New Jersey, where a similar 500,000 square foot facility is being built, many neighbors told NPR they are outraged. While the town council has said they oppose the project, locals say they suspect the town leadership is quietly opening the door to ICE. At one of several very heated town meetings, local resident Susana Oliveri accused the town council of "rolling out the red carpet at the ICE detention center."
In Maryland, reactions from local and state governments have varied. The attorney general of Maryland is suing Department of Homeland Security to stop the facility being built in Williamsport, citing ethical and environmental concerns. Mayor Bill Green of Williamsport has been quiet on the matter. Green did not respond to NPR's multiple interview requests.
Meanwhile, for the private companies who run these centers, ICE's expansion has been a huge economic boom. During its February quarterly earnings call, CoreCivic, one of two main companies that operate many of ICE's detention and processing facilities, celebrated a more than 100% rise in ICE revenue, year over year. "With historic funding levels for border security, and an expectation of a continued increase in detention bed demand nationwide," CFO David Garfinkle announced, "we believe there are numerous opportunities to activate additional idle facilities we own"
Not all are against the ICE detention centers coming to town. In nearby Hagerstown, where the poverty rate is nearly 22%, twice the national average, resident Tracy Landis says she's excited for the prospective detention center. She says this town desperately needs jobs. "Us American people need to take back our country. That's what needs to happen," says Landis. "Let ICE do their job, and give the Americans a chance to work and have a place to live."
Many economists dispute the idea that deporting immigrants opens up jobs for native-born workers.
In a statement to NPR, ICE said the Williamsport facility is expected to bring 1,125 jobs to the area, and said these retrofitted warehouses would meet ICE's standards.
Bonnie Myers, who is sitting on her porch taking in the evening breeze, is skeptical. "I don't know," she says, shaking her head. "The way they've been treating people, I just rather they not be around here. But there's nothing we can do."
This is a sentiment heard a lot out here: these are the Feds. There's nothing that can be done.
Patrick Dattilio, with the activist group Hagerstown Rapid Response, which has fought against the detention center, says there are ways to push back.
"All the protesting, all the fighting delays and makes this more expensive and makes it harder for the feds," says Dattilio. "Their power still comes from the people. And we are the people. We are the people here."
Last week, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against the Williamsport ICE facility while this whole thing plays out in court. That means for the next few days, anyway, that massive structure will be empty.
Copyright 2026 NPR
