HAGERSTOWN, Md. – Washington County commissioners signed a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) in December tied to a confidential industrial project, days before the public learned of federal plans to turn a local warehouse into a large immigration detention center, a local advocacy group has documented.
The group, Hagerstown Rapid Response, which opposes the facility, compiled a timeline from county records showing the Board of County Commissioners entered the NDA on Dec. 9, 2025, during a closed session for a “confidential project.”
One week later, on Dec. 16, commissioners held another closed session to discuss real estate acquisition strategy, according to meeting agendas and minutes the group obtained.
The sequence aligns with the now-public federal timeline. Property records show the warehouse’s owner, a Fundrise subsidiary, refinanced the 825,000-square-foot building with a $352.7 million loan in late October 2025.
The Washington Post first reported Dec. 24 that the Department of Homeland Security was eyeing warehouses, including one near Hagerstown, for immigration processing. DHS completed the $102.4 million purchase Jan. 16, 2026, with plans to convert the site into a 1,500-bed ICE facility.
Hagerstown Rapid Response said the NDA and closed sessions raise questions about whether county officials knew details of the federal project before it was announced, and whether they were barred from discussing it with constituents.
The group noted that public records requests related to the warehouse have faced delays and narrow interpretations, calling the handling “deliberate” in materials it has circulated.
County officials have not publicly confirmed the NDA covered the ICE project. Under Maryland law, closed sessions and NDAs are permitted for economic development discussions involving proprietary business information.
The Board of County Commissioners later voted unanimously in February to support converting the warehouse into a detention center, citing potential economic benefits.
Hagerstown Rapid Response is a volunteer community network formed to monitor ICE activity and provide rapid alerts on immigration enforcement and local emergencies, which has led protests and filed public comments against the facility alongside the ACLU of Maryland, NAACP and other organizations.
Founder Patrick Dattilio has described the project as lacking community input.
Construction on the project remains halted amid ongoing litigation by the state of Maryland and local challengers over environmental, infrastructure and procedural concerns.
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