For weeks, residents of Washington County have demanded answers about the warehouse the Department of Homeland Security quietly purchased in our community.

Our community asked for transparency.
We asked for public discussion.
We asked for basic answers about an industrial warehouse the federal government plans to convert into 1,500-bed immigration ICE processing facility, just outside of Hagerstown.

Instead, we got silence, rushed decisions, and a unanimous vote by the Washington County Commissioners to support the project - before the public even had a meaningful chance to weigh in.

But now, something interesting has appeared.

The job listings.

Anovaeon LLC - which describes itself on its website as “your trusted partner in humanitarian response” - is currently advertising several positions for what job postings call an "ICE processing facility" in Williamsport, Maryland. Among the many job openings posted by the staffing agency on Indeed for the Hagerstown area ICE processing facility, include ICE processing aides, ICE processing specialists, and ICE processing supervisors.

Curiously, Anovaeon’s website does not mention immigration detention anywhere, which is a pretty notable omission considering what the “processing” facility is widely understood to be.

According to Anovaeon's website, president and CEO, Eric Fritz, says he has managed projects in “war zones, disaster zones, and migration crises” across six countries and ironically, holds an advanced degree in international human rights and humanitarian law. The company also lists certifications in emergency preparedness, disaster response, and artificial intelligence - an interesting résumé for a company that, at least on its website, somehow forgot to mention the immigration detention facility it now appears to be staffing.

In one of Anovaeon's job postings on Indeed, the staffing agency is recruiting for a Case Processing Aide to work at the ICE processing.

This $22 / hour role is responsible for responding “quickly to emergency situations throughout the facility” and to work up to 12 hour shifts and overnight. 

This comes after:

• DHS quietly purchased the 825,000-square-foot warehouse near Hagerstown for about $102 million.
• Plans surfaced to convert it into a massive, 1,500 bed ICE processing center.
• Residents raised concerns about infrastructure strain, civil liberties, and turning Washington County into a regional detention hub.

And now - while the community is still asking basic questions - the help-wanted ads are already going up.

Our petition calls on the Washington County Commissioners to:

• Rescind their endorsement of this detention facility.
• Hold open public forums for residents.
• Demand transparency from DHS about the project’s true scope.
• Prioritize economic development that benefits our community instead of turning it into a detention hub .

Washington County deserves leadership that listens to its residents - not decisions made behind closed doors and confirmed later by job postings.

If you haven’t signed yet, now is the time.

Sign and share the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-ice-detention-center-in-washington-county