George H. Fallon Federal Building — Google Maps street view/Maryland AGMaryland’s attorney general is taking Immigration and Customs Enforcement to federal court, accusing the agency of hiding records tied to alleged dangerous and inhumane detention conditions in Baltimore.Attorney General Anthony Brown filed a federal lawsuit in Maryland on Tuesday, March 10, seeking to force ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to comply with a subpoena tied to an ongoing civil rights investigation into detention practices at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore.The investigation centers on reports that detainees held in ICE “hold rooms” were subjected to overcrowding, extended confinement, and denial of basic needs.“The conditions inside the Baltimore holding cells have been dangerous, inhumane, and unlawful — and ICE and DHS have done everything in their power to keep us from finding out just how bad they are,” Brown said. “The agencies have stonewalled our investigation while people in their custody are denied critical medical care and forced to sleep in cold cement cells and live in their own excrement.”The Maryland Office of the Attorney General began monitoring conditions at the Baltimore facility in the summer of 2025.After reviewing viral video, sworn declarations from detainees in litigation, and reports from members of Congress who visited the site, investigators launched a formal inquiry in January 2026.That probe is examining whether ICE engaged in a pattern of civil rights violations, including overcrowding, denial of medical care, lack of food and water, unsanitary conditions, and limited access to legal counsel.Court filings in a related case describe 40 to 50 detainees crowded inside rooms measuring roughly 15 feet by 15 feet, forcing people to sleep sitting upright without bedding.A federal court reviewing the case on March 6 found detainees were routinely held in the Baltimore hold rooms overnight and for longer than 12 hours, with some individuals detained more than 72 hours in conditions that likely violate the Fifth Amendment.Additional allegations describe detainees being forced to remain in filthy conditions for days.One person reportedly wore an adult diaper for five days without access to sanitation products, while another detainee with leukemia went two days without cancer medication until a friend delivered it to the facility.A whistleblower from the ICE field office described blankets covered in bodily fluids and said menstruating women were not provided hygiene products.The holding rooms were designed for short-term detention of less than 12 hours, yet investigators say some people were held there for days or even weeks.The Baltimore facility has reportedly held more than 120 people in a single day, exceeding its stated capacity of 56 detainees.Internal ICE communications warned that the lack of medical staff at the facility “could potentially lead to liability issues or, in the worst-case scenario, fatalities.”The attorney general’s office issued an administrative subpoena to ICE and DHS on Jan. 30 seeking records tied to detainee conditions, demographics, and detention practices.ICE rejected the request on Feb. 25, citing broad objections and declining to provide records.After further correspondence, the agency indicated it might take until April 6 to determine whether any information could be released.The lawsuit filed in US District Court for the District of Maryland argues that ICE’s refusal to comply violates federal administrative law and asks the court to compel the agency to produce the requested records.“The allegations surrounding the conditions at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore are deeply disturbing and merit full investigative cooperation,” Governor Wes Moore said. “We cannot stand by as ICE and the federal government continue to lack transparency and dodge accountability for their cruel and unlawful immigration enforcement actions.”The investigation comes as ICE seeks to expand detention operations in Maryland, including plans to convert a warehouse in Washington County into a 1,500-person detention facility.The attorney general’s office is asking anyone with information about conditions inside ICE detention facilities in Maryland to contact investigators.