Excellent news!! Kudos to the MD AG’s office on winning this TRO to halt ICE’s detention warehouse in Hagerstown, MD.
12.03.2026 03:19
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Excellent news!! Kudos to the MD AG’s office on winning this TRO to halt ICE’s detention warehouse in Hagerstown, MD.
Court order ordering work to cease at Williamsport ICE detention warehouse.
JUDGE GRANTS TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER, HALTING PROGRESS ON WILLIAMSPORT, MD. DETENTION WAREHOUSE.
We can only hope Trump gets KTFO like Jake Paul did, metaphorically speaking.
5/ TLDR: EOIR is not seeking to build a neutral bench. It is creating a law enforcement → immigrant detention → deportation pipeline, dressed up in robes and called a court.
4/
- Only 25% have actual prior judicial experience, meaning most have never served as neutral arbiters; they're stepping straight from prosecuting immigrants to judging them
- 0% have identifiable experience in immigration defense, legal aid, or immigrant representation
3/
- 52% come directly from DHS (ICE, CBP, or USCIS).
- 43% are from ICE or CBP (the enforcement and prosecution arms of DHS)
- 9% are from USCIS (historically this has been an adjudicatory agency, though honestly nowadays it is basically being folded into enforcement).
2/ The new judges overwhelmingly come from federal law enforcement (specifically DHS) and the military. The intended effect is to crowd the bench with judges more likely to rubber stamp removal/deportation orders. To help paint a picture, here are the stats from the latest round of hires:
Photo of EOIR press release announcement of 42 new immigration judges.
1/ EOIR just announced 42 new immigration judge hires. Judges are supposed to be neutral, but the courts are far from unbiased. Trump has been firing judges with immigration defense backgrounds and replacing them with prosecutors mostly straight out of DHS. www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...
ICYMI yesterday, check out this conversation about ICE's detention warehouses. We cover what is going on, who is profiting, and what the dangers are. www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026...
This screenshot captures an official tweet from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), posted on March 11, 2026. The tweet includes a high-angle, wide-shot photograph of a massive, modern industrial warehouse complex surrounded by a large parking lot and green fields. The text of the tweet reads: "DHS and ICE are moving fast to secure the infrastructure needed for a safer America. Today we finalized the purchase of our 12th primary warehouse facility. This $38B investment in our new 'Reengineering Initiative' ensures we own our facilities outright—cutting out the middleman and speeding up removals. #SecureTheBorder #DHS #ICE" The image also shows a "DHS.gov" watermark in the corner and typical social media metrics, including thousands of retweets and likes.
By "innovative" "end-to-end operational hubs," it sounds like ICE are trying to CONCENTRATE their operations in a CAMP-like environment, no?
This is especially so for immigrants who come into contact with the criminal legal system >> face punishment there >> then, face double punishment by the immigration system. @ccgarciahernandez.bsky.social has a great work on this: Migrating to Prison: America’s Obsession with Locking Up Immigrants.
Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001) is the seminal case that establishes immigration detention is not supposed to be about punishment. It's certainly the case now that DHS is using detention as a way to punish immigrants, but I'd argue that has been the case at least since the 1980s.
"Like Prime, but with human beings." This is how ICE's director talks about immigrant detention centers. That it is dehumanizing is an understatement.
ICE has a playbook for buying warehouse detention centers: move fast, tell nobody, and let communities find out from property records or news leaks. It's happened in at least 20 towns across the country. A thread. 🧵
Read more: [1] 'Everyone is pretty upset about it': Socorro speaks out against ICE center www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i... [2] State Rep warns migrant detention center in Socorro could strain El Paso water supply kfoxtv.com/news/local/s...
4/ State Rep. Vince Perez estimates the facility could require 850,000 gallons of water per day. The local water district has no source of its own and relies on a wholesale agreement already at its limit. Socorro's city council is now investigating legal options to block the facility.
3/ The Socorro mayor condemned the secrecy: residents have waited "40 years" for basic utilities, yet a private contractor "can get it overnight." A county commissioner warned: "These warehouses were not meant to house people, much less 8,500 people."
2/ The warehouses have a combined capacity of 8,500 beds. They sit near the small communities of Socorro, San Elizario, and Clint. These towns have a total population of about 45,000 people, mostly Latino families, many of whom only learned of the plans from group chats and news reports.
1/ This is Day 5 of me naming and shaming DHS for all the fucking prisons and WAREHOUSES they're seeking to open to profit off of immigrant bodies. On Jan. 27, 2026, DHS quietly purchased three warehouses in Socorro, TX, paying $122.8 million.
Maria Loya and family Oregon
2/ We're calling on the federal court to make this right. innovationlawlab.org/case/loya-me...
1/ My team and I just filed a habeas petition for Maria Loya, a mother of two whose detention has no lawful basis. Immigration detention isn't supposed to be about punishment. But I can think of no other purpose here. It certainly isn't about fairness or justice.
ICE awarded a $113M contract to KVG LLC to convert a warehouse in Washington County, Maryland into a detention center holding up to 1,500 immigrants. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has sued to stop the project.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
VICTORY: ICE released Antonio Yesayahu Gámez-Cuéllar, high school senior & award-winning mariachi trumpeter.
With Garcia & Garcia Attorneys at Law, our legal team filed a parole request on Antonio’s behalf.
We're thrilled that he is free, thanks to the courageous activism of friends & community.
State-sanctioned violence that leads to predictable deaths.
The Trump admin tried to use emergency rulemaking to erase the Board of Immigration Appeals, requiring that basically all appeals (which cost $1,000 to file!) be summarily dismissed without any review.
Thanks to our @immcouncil.org legal team and others, the rule is now BLOCKED!
5/ Read more here: [1] Conservative Georgia town pushes back against ICE detention center: ‘We are Americans after all.’ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
4/ A local coalition of "liberal Democrats and staunch conservatives" sent DHS a letter pleading for transparency: "We are Americans after all. Will we come first, or be left out completely?" DHS scheduled a meeting with the town, but then ghosted them. They never called.
3/ Local officials, including the mayor and police chief, are fiercely opposed. When ICE asked the city manager to turn on the water, he refused: “Not until they come and talk to me.” Residents warn infrastructure can't handle it: 1 ambulance, a maxed-out sewage system, and a strained water supply.
2/ Per reporting in @theguardian.com and @projectsaltbox.bsky.social, the 1 million sq. ft. warehouse has a capacity of up to 8,500 beds. Social Circle is a rural town of only about 5,000 people. If opened, it would be one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country.
