The public narrative surrounding the massive ICE detention facility outside Hagerstown has often been framed as a story of federal authority and local limitation—a project Washington County officials suggest they had not input into and could not meaningfully control.

But newly obtained records tell a far more revealing story.

Through a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request filed by Ethan Wechtaluk—a member of Hagerstown Rapid Response and a candidate for Congress in Maryland’s Sixth District—internal communications show that county leadership was not only aware of the project well in advance, but actively engaging with federal officials, facilitating its rollout, and signaling political support at the highest levels.

Wechtaluk’s request sought all communications related to the project from January 2025 through February 14, 2026, capturing a critical window during which the facility moved from concept to reality.

What emerges is not a picture of distance—but of coordination.

An Invitation—and an Alignment
At the center of the released records is a February 11, 2026 email from County Administrator Michelle Gordon to senior Department of Homeland Security officials.

Sent just one day after the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution backing the project, the email leaves little room for ambiguity. The county expresses its “full, unwavering support” for DHS and ICE—and then goes further.

“The Board, Gordon writes, would like to extend an invitation not only to DHS leadership, but to President Donald J. Trump, to personally visit Washington County.”

It is an extraordinary gesture, transforming what might have been framed as a passive federal development into something closer to a locally endorsed initiative.

The message also situates the county politically, describing Washington County as a Republican-led jurisdiction whose voice is often “unheard” at the state level—suggesting that the project carries not just logistical implications, but symbolic weight and a chance to elevate the status of the county within the state and federal conversation.

A Timeline That Starts Earlier Than the Public Knew
The MPIA records also point to a timeline that begins well before public awareness.

On January 29, 2026, Aaron Weiss, Washington County’s Assistant Attorney, emailed Dylan Goldberg, Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, attaching a letter from DHS addressed to the Washington County Historical Society.

That correspondence—occurring nearly two weeks before the public resolution—suggests that coordination between county officials and DHS was already underway.

Members of Hagerstown Rapid Response later followed up directly with Goldberg, underscoring the extent to which federal, local, and community actors were all operating on overlapping but unequal access to information.

Taken together, the records suggest that by the time the public was formally introduced to the project, key relationships and communications were already established.

The Facility—and the Unknowns Beneath It
The facility itself is vast: an 825,620-square-foot warehouse on more than 53 acres, purchased by DHS and designated as the “New ICE Baltimore Processing Facility.”

Publicly, officials have emphasized limits to local authority over the project. But internally, the tone is one of partnership and collaboration.

And yet, embedded within that same communication is a quieter admission: the county does not yet fully understand what the project will require of them or what it could mean for the future.

The sewer infrastructure serving the site is already near capacity. The Wright Road pump station has just two remaining units available, and upgrades—costing between $750,000 and $1 million—will be necessary. The county puts the onus on DHS to fund the upgrades, but it remains unclear what transpired after that conversation.

Water usage remains undefined. Additional capacity must be purchased, but the county acknowledges it does not yet know how much will be needed and if there is even capacity to service that need.

Even as officials extended invitations and formalized support, they were conceding that fundamental questions about infrastructure—and cost—were still unanswered. The stark contrast between public confidence and private concerns should alarm everyone.

Leveraging the Project for Federal Investment
The email also reveals how the project is being used to support broader funding requests.

County officials tie the facility to a series of proposed federal investments, including:

• $25–30 million in upgrades to Hagerstown Regional Airport
• $300–350 million to widen Interstate 81

The framing suggests that the ICE facility is not just an isolated development, but part of a larger effort to reposition the region within federal infrastructure priorities.

What remains unclear is how those investments would be distributed and whether the benefits would extend to residents in proportion to the demands the facility may place on local systems. While there may be little dispute that the airport is in need of investment or the interstate could use repair, such large federal investment into the region could be best served in other ways.

A Different Story Than the One Told Publicly
The contrast between the public narrative and the internal record is difficult to ignore.

Rather than a county reacting to federal action, the documents show local officials:

• Engaging with DHS weeks before public action
• Unanimously endorsing the project
• Extending invitations to national political leadership
• And acknowledging, internally, that critical infrastructure questions remained unresolved
• All of it unfolding before any sustained public dialogue appears to have taken place.

What the Records Reveal
In isolation, any one of these details might be explained away as routine governance. But taken together, they tell a more consequential story—one about how large-scale federal projects take root at the local level, and how decisions with long-term implications can be made in advance of public understanding.

The MPIA request filed by Wechtaluk does not just fill in gaps. It reframes the timeline.

And in doing so, it raises a set of questions that now sit at the center of the debate in Washington County:

• When did officials know—and what did they know?
• What commitments were made before the public was informed?
• And who ultimately bears the cost of a project that appears, at least in part, to have been welcomed long before it was understood?

The Stakes Going Forward
For organizers, residents, and local officials alike, the release of these records marks a turning point.

The ICE facility is no longer just a proposal or a construction project. It is a case study in how power, policy, and process intersect—and in how transparency can lag behind decision-making in ways that reshape communities.

What happens next will depend not only on what is built—but on how the public responds to what has now been revealed.

*Correction: a previous version of this listed Dylan Goldberg as DHS Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. This has been updated to reflect Dylan Goldberg's correct title of Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.