Maryland Attorney General Files Lawsuit to Block $102 Million Federal Immigrant Detention Center Project

Maryland AG Anthony Brown sues DHS over a $102M warehouse conversion, alleging the federal government bypassed environmental reviews for a new detention center.

By: AXL Media

Published: Feb 26, 2026, 3:29 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from Bisnow

The Transaction or Development

The legal dispute centers on an 826,000 square foot industrial property situated on 54 acres outside Williamsport, which was recently sold by an affiliate of Fundrise for $102.4 million. According to court filings, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to retrofit this massive warehouse into a high-capacity detention center capable of housing 1,500 individuals. Attorney General Anthony Brown argues that the acquisition was executed with "breakneck speed," which he claims resulted in a blatant disregard for established federal procurement and oversight laws.

Regulatory and Competitive Landscape

The state’s primary legal contention is that federal immigration agencies failed to conduct the requisite environmental assessments and public consultations mandated for projects of this scale. Attorney General Brown asserts that the Trump administration "ran roughshod over federal law," neglecting to evaluate how a 1,500-bed facility would impact local sewage infrastructure or protected wildlife species. Furthermore, the lawsuit highlights concerns regarding increased traffic congestion and air pollution in the Williamsport area, suggesting that the federal government bypassed the state’s right to formal consultation.

Strategic Rationale and Market Impact

From the federal perspective, this acquisition is a foundational piece of a larger $38 billion strategy led by Secretary Kristi Noem to expand the nation's deportation infrastructure. The administration is reportedly targeting a quota of 3,000 daily arrests, necessitating a vast network of new detention centers and over 150 field offices. While DHS maintains these sites will function as "well-structured detention facilities," the strategy relies heavily on converting existing industrial assets, a move that has significant implications for the national warehouse real estate market.