See How Much the ICE Facility Could Cost You

In November 2024, MIT Press published a peer-reviewed national study titled “The Local Impacts of Prisons” in The Review of Economics and Statistics. The researchers found that home values declined after a new prison opened nearby, with the largest losses occurring closest to the facility. Median home values fell by 1.8 percent within 2.49 miles of a new prison and by 3.4 percent within 1.24 miles.

In January 2026, the Department of Homeland Security purchased an 825,000-square-foot industrial warehouse in Williamsport, Maryland, which it plans to convert into an ICE prison. Every residence in Williamsport is within 2.49 miles of the proposed facility, placing the entire town within the area where the study found a statistically significant decline in home values. The potential impact also extends into parts of Hagerstown and the neighboring communities of Halfway, Kemps Mill, Pinesburg, and Wilson-Conococheague.

Applying the study’s findings to residential properties near the proposed ICE prison shows that homeowners could lose as much as $22.3 million in property value. That is the scale of the financial risk DHS has failed to analyze publicly. Even a relatively small percentage decline could shift millions of dollars in losses onto nearby homeowners.

In November 2024, MIT Press published a peer-reviewed national study titled “The Local Impacts of Prisons” in The Review of Economics and Statistics. The researchers found that home values declined after a new prison opened nearby, with the largest losses occurring closest to the facility. Median home values fell by 1.8 percent within 2.49 miles of a new prison and by 3.4 percent within 1.24 miles.

The proposed Elkridge facility is a 28,614-square-foot ICE field office and processing center being built at 6522 Meadowridge Road. Plans include five secured holding rooms, showers, detainee property storage and space to process and hold as many as 49 people at a time. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction restoring the project’s permits on August 10, 2026, allowing construction to resume while the lawsuit continues.

The potential impact would not stop at Elkridge. Maryland property records identify 12,274 residential properties within 2.49 miles with Elkridge, Columbia, Ellicott City, Hanover and Jessup mailing addresses:

Most of the affected homes are in Howard County: 11,801 property records, or 96.1 percent. Another 473 properties, or 3.9 percent, are in Anne Arundel County in the Hanover and Jessup area. These are mailing-city names from the property records rather than municipal boundaries. Maryland’s Census-place boundaries use somewhat different labels, and many homes with Ellicott City addresses are geographically in Ilchester. The 2.49-mile circle also clips Savage, but that section contained no residential properties included in the analysis.

Across the full 2.49-mile area, the 12,274 residential properties represent 18,077 recorded housing units and more than $7.02 billion in appraised value. Applying the study’s 1.8 percent estimate would place approximately $126.5 million in residential property value at risk. Within 1.86 miles, the estimate is approximately $91.2 million, while the stronger 3.4 percent finding within 1.24 miles represents approximately $83.8 million in potential lost value. These are overlapping cumulative areas and should not be added together.