Our MPIA Request Shows that Washington County Leaders Misled Public About the ICE Facility

The timeline raises new questions about what Washington County officials knew about the proposed ICE detention center and what they were telling the public.

On February 10, 2026, the Washington County Commissioners formally expressed their “full support” for DHS and ICE and called for “ongoing cooperation and partnership.” But emails we obtained through a Maryland Public Information Act request show that before and after that vote, County officials were telling residents something very different about what they knew regarding the proposed ICE detention center in Williamsport.

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On January 16, County Administrator Michelle Gordon told the commissioners that federal information showed ICE was proposing to purchase, occupy and rehabilitate the Wright Road warehouse for ICE operations. Gordon specifically described the proposed use as a “detention facility” and referred to “our position” that “would still be the same.” By January 28, Washington County had also publicly acknowledged receiving federal information describing holding and processing spaces and numerous other components of the proposed facility.

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Then came the responses to residents. On February 13, just three days after the commissioners formally backed DHS and ICE, Gordon told a resident that Washington County had “not been provided with project information from the Federal Government.” On February 17, she told another resident essentially the same thing and added that the County would not “speculate on future use or development” of the property. The Washington County Commissioners were copied on that response.

The emails leave a basic question Washington County still needs to answer: If County officials were already receiving and discussing federal information about an ICE “detention facility,” why were residents subsequently being told the County had not received federal “project information”?

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