(WBFF) — A federal court has temporarily halted construction work on a warehouse near Williamsport that the Trump administration is seeking to convert into a large immigration detention facility, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said Wednesday.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a temporary restraining order immediately pausing any construction or retrofitting at the site in Washington County, according to Brown’s office. The order stops work while the state’s lawsuit continues.
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“Today a federal court handed Maryland a critical victory, stopping construction that threatened our waterways, endangered species, and communities before irreversible harm could be done,” Brown said. “Though temporary, this ruling stops the construction of this massive immigration detention center while our lawsuit continues to play out in court. We will not let DHS and ICE rush through the proper legal process in their haste to ramp up deportations. We will keep fighting to make sure the law is followed and Marylanders are protected.”
Brown filed the lawsuit Feb. 23, against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, challenging the purchase and planned conversion of the warehouse near Williamsport. The lawsuit alleged the project violates federal administrative and environmental law.
The court’s decision comes one day after Brown filed an emergency motion asking to pause construction for up to 14 days while the court considers the broader legal challenge.
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