Oppose Resolution Supporting ICE Facility and Investigate Federal Consultation Process

I urge you to vote against the resolution expressing support for federal immigration enforcement and to instead investigate the deeply flawed consultation process surrounding the detention facility at 16220 Wright Road. The federal government purchased this $102.4 million warehouse in January 2025 without meaningful consultation with Washington County. Your own office stated you did not receive the DHS consultation letter until January 14, two days after ICE had already documented the county's lack of response in internal reports. The deed was recorded January 16, nearly a week before the county formally acknowledged the project. This timeline reveals that the required federal consultation process was a procedural formality, not genuine engagement. Rather than pledging not to oppose an agency that bypassed local officials and residents, you should join the legal challenge filed with the Maryland Historical Trust. That challenge raises a substantive concern: DHS used 10900 Hopewell Road in its historic preservation review while the deed listed 16220 Wright Road, different parcels with different historic designations. This address discrepancy may have invalidated the review and circumvented the public consultation process federal law requires. The facility conversion carries significant fiscal consequences for Washington County. The warehouse generated more than $300,000 in combined state and local property tax revenue last year. Converting it to federal use eliminates that revenue entirely, as federal facilities are exempt from local property taxes. Meanwhile, operating costs for this 1,500-bed facility are estimated at $300,000 daily, or approximately $110 million annually, with infrastructure concerns about water allocation that was designed for logistics operations, not 1,500 people. Representative April McClain Delaney correctly characterized this as a cloak of darkness operation. Your constituents deserve elected officials who will defend their interests and demand accountability, not officials who pledge cooperation with an agency that excluded them from the process. Vote no on this resolution and demand a full investigation into the consultation failures.