Van Hollen, Alsobrooks Press Trump Administration on Inhumane Conditions for Detainees at ICE’s Baltimore Field Office

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (both D-Md.) wrote to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons regarding the unacceptable conditions that individuals have faced while in custody in the holding rooms at the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore Field Office. Their letter to the Trump Administration officials comes after members of their staff visited the field office in response to reports that detainees have been held for durations longer than allowed by ICE standards in a facility that is unequipped to meet their basic needs, including reports of overcrowding in holding cells with no bed space, lack of adequate food service, and the absence of medical staff on-site. The Senators called upon Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons to cease holding detainees in temporary holding rooms for more than the 12-hours period allowed under ICE standards, and they ask the officials for responses to a series of questions regarding the justification for the prolonged detainments that have occurred as well as their plans to ensure individuals in custody are given safe and humane treatment.
“We write to share our concerns regarding the appalling situation unfolding in the holding rooms at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore Field Office located at the George Fallon Federal Building (hereinafter Baltimore Holding Rooms or BHR),”the Senators began.“Following reports of prolonged detainment, overcrowding, and inhumane conditions, our staff visited the field office to inspect the conditions there. While the local ICE personnel are making an effort to accommodate detainees’ needs during longer stays, it is clear that the directives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE Headquarters in service of President Trump’s mass deportation agenda are resulting in unacceptable harms inflicted on those being detained in the BHR. It is imperative that the Baltimore Field Office, and all ICE temporary holding rooms across the country, follow all relevant ICE policies and immediately cease holding detainees in their facilities for more than the 12 hours permitted by current guidelines.
The Senators noted that during their staffs’ visit they learned:
“Subjecting detainees to such inhumane and unsafe conditions does nothing to improve our border security or deter illegal immigration – it only puts people’s health and safety at risk,”they stressed.
“As part of our duties as Members of Congress to conduct proper oversight of the executive branch, we request that you produce the waiver for the 12-hour holding rule that BHR has received and provide answers to the following by April 24, 2025 to ensure those being detained in the BHR and throughout the United States are being held in safe and humane conditions, as required by agency policy,”they wrote, going on to list a series of questions for the Administration’s response.
A copy of the letter, including the questions the Senators ask of Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons, is availablehereand below.
Dear Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons,
We write to share our concerns regarding the appalling situation unfolding in the holding rooms at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore Field Office located at the George Fallon Federal Building (hereinafter Baltimore Holding Rooms or BHR). Following reports of prolonged detainment, overcrowding, and inhumane conditions, our staff visited the field office to inspect the conditions there. While the local ICE personnel are making an effort to accommodate detainees’ needs during longer stays, it is clear that the directives from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE Headquarters in service of President Trump’s mass deportation agenda are resulting in unacceptable harms inflicted on those being detained in the BHR. It is imperative that the Baltimore Field Office, and all ICE temporary holding rooms across the country, follow all relevant ICE policies and immediately cease holding detainees in their facilities for more than the 12 hours permitted by current guidelines.
During our staff’s visit to the BHR, we learned that:
Subjecting detainees to such inhumane and unsafe conditions does nothing to improve our border security or deter illegal immigration – it only puts people’s health and safety at risk. Nearly 20 to 25 percent of their arrests are collateral arrests—meaning the individual was not a target for arrest but detained in the course of a separate arrest.
The Baltimore Field Office is holding people for durations longer than they are equipped in response to orders for increased enforcement activity despite ICE’s inability to handle the increased capacity at long-term detention facilities. This is in part due to ICE’s new requirement that all releases be processed through headquarters instead of by the first line officers on the ground, which has unnecessarily extended release processing times and led to mistakes. This new requirement is contrary to longstanding local field office detainment discretion and has resulted in an increase of detainees and the prolonged duration of their custody at the BHR. We appreciate that our local ICE personnel are only trying to do their jobs, but the Administration’s orders are making it impossible for them to comply with the required standards. It is clear that the Baltimore Field Office personnel can only focus on high-priority and criminal deportations if they retain the proper discretionary authority on the individuals they arrest and detain.
In order to handle the increased capacity, BHR has received a waiver to ICE’s 12-hour holding rule. Pressure from the Administration to increase enforcement activity and the revocation of the local field office’s detainment discretion do not qualify as “exceptional circumstances,” and therefore should not allow for the waiver of the 12-hour holding rule. It is therefore deeply concerning that this waiver was granted, exempting them from the minimum standards of detention quality outlined in the agency’s policies.
As part of our duties as Members of Congress to conduct proper oversight of the executive branch, we request that you produce the waiver for the 12-hour holding rule that BHR has received and provide answers to the following by April 24, 2025 to ensure those being detained in the BHR and throughout the United States are being held in safe and humane conditions, as required by agency policy:
We appreciate your attention to this vital matter and look forward to reviewing your fulsome, timely response.