ICE Is Expanding Inside a Hyattsville, Maryland Building Where Immigrant Families Go for Help

Prince George’s County approved ICE’s expansion at Metro 1, home to social services, a food pantry, college classrooms and free English classes. DHS won’t say what the new space is for.

Prince George’s County has approved a Use and Occupancy Permit allowing the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand its existing operation inside Metro 1 at 6505 Belcrest Road in Hyattsville.

Neither the county nor DHS has publicly explained what ICE plans to do in the newly approved space. The most urgent questions remain unanswered: Will immigrants be detained, interviewed, or processed there? Will enforcement officers work from the building? Could the office be used to support arrests connected to the nearby immigration court?

Those questions would be serious at any location and are especially urgent at Metro 1. That’s because a person can walk into the building to apply for SNAP, pick up food from a county pantry, take a free English class or attend college. A few floors away, ICE operates an office that helps the federal government pursue deportation cases. Now that operation is expanding.

What ICE is adding at Metro 1

ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, known as OPLA, already operates from Suite 450 at 6505 Belcrest Road. OPLA is ICE’s legal arm. Its attorneys represent DHS in immigration court and help the federal government pursue deportation cases.

The newly approved permit concerns Suite 310, so this is an expansion of ICE’s presence in the building, not simply a renewal of its existing office.

WJLA reported in February that ICE was believed to be leasing as much as 20,000 square feet at Metro 1. The Baltimore Banner later reported that the project involved Suite 310 and had been delayed after failing multiple inspections, including one on March 3.

The City of Hyattsville has now announced that Prince George’s County has now approved the permit. What the announcement did not say is who will occupy Suite 310 or what they will do there.

ICE’s deportation operation relies on attorneys, administrative employees, case processing, interviews and coordination with enforcement officers. Even if Suite 310 contains no jail cells, work performed there could still contribute directly to arrests, detention and deportation.

But the possibility that immigrants could be brought into Metro 1 must also be taken seriously. Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation asked DHS and ICE about that possibility in February. They asked whether the location would contain holding cells, whether immigrants would be brought there, whether enforcement officers would be stationed inside and how residents using other services in the building would be protected. And DHS does not appear to have publicly answered those questions.

Families visit Metro 1 for food, education and public assistance

Metro 1 is where many Prince George’s County residents go when they need help paying for groceries or covering other basic needs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), medical assistance, cash assistance, and a permanent food pantry in the building. This is also where Prince George’s Community College holds classes, job-training programs there, adult education, and offers free English classes for refugees and people who have been granted asylum.

People should not have to walk past an ICE operation to obtain food, learn English, attend college, or ask their local government for help. ICE’s presence can cause harm even if no one is arrested inside the building. A family afraid of being watched, questioned or followed may decide not to apply for food assistance. A refugee may stop attending English classes. Someone who needs help may stay home because entering the building no longer feels safe.

Residents warned Hyattsville officials months ago

Residents were raising concerns about Metro 1 well before the permit was approved. During a City Council meeting in May, residents from Wards 2 and 3 warned the council about the reported ICE expansion and urged city leaders to act.

A member of Hyattsville Resistance criticized the lack of clear communication and asked the city to take a stronger public position. Other residents called on city officials to oppose the expansion, keep people informed and protect those who depend on the services inside Metro 1.

Now the permit has been approved, but the public still does not know what Prince George’s County authorized. Residents should not have to piece together a major ICE expansion from permit records, news reports and announcements issued after the decision has already been made.

The timing of the permit is impossible to ignore

The timing raises even more questions. The Prince George’s County Council enacted CB-031-2026 on June 22 and County Executive Aisha Braveboy signed it into law on July 21.

The law prohibits Prince George’s County from issuing a building permit or certificate of occupancy for a detention center. It defines a detention center to include buildings where people are incarcerated or involuntarily confined for judicial or administrative proceedings, including immigration detention facilities. But the law does not take effect until 45 days after it became law, which is September 4.

On July 29, just eight days after Braveboy signed the legislation, the City of Hyattsville announced that the county had approved ICE’s permit for Suite 310.

That does not prove the county rushed the permit through to beat the new law. The city’s announcement does not even disclose when the permit was approved. But with DHS refusing to say whether immigrants will be detained or involuntarily confined inside Metro 1, the timing cannot simply be brushed aside.

Prince George’s County should immediately release the permit’s approval date, the use listed on the application and any records showing whether officials considered CB-031-2026 while reviewing it. If county officials determined that Suite 310 will only be used as an office and would not qualify as a detention center under the new law, they should release the records supporting that determination.

If ICE does plan to detain people there, residents deserve to know whether the permit would have been prohibited had it been issued after September 4. They also deserve to know whether ICE obtained approval during the brief period between the bill becoming law and its restrictions taking effect.

Washington County residents have seen this before

For people fighting the proposed ICE detention center in Washington County, Maryland, the secrecy surrounding Metro 1 is painfully familiar.

DHS purchased an 825,000-square-foot industrial warehouse in Washington County and moved forward with plans to detain as many as 1,500 people there before residents or state agencies had a real chance to examine the project. Maryland later sued DHS, accusing the agency of bypassing required environmental review and public participation. Washington County commissioners endorsed the facility despite unanswered questions and warnings from Maryland’s congressional delegation about the secrecy surrounding it.

Prince George’s County residents are now being forced into a similar position. ICE has been allowed to expand while basic information remains hidden, leaving the public to uncover the details through news reports, public-records requests and sustained pressure.

This is becoming a pattern: DHS moves first, local officials provide little information and residents are expected to investigate what their government has already approved.

The Hyattsville office is part of ICE’s nationwide expansion

ICE is pursuing new space across the country. Federal records reviewed by WIRED showed activity at more than 150 locations. General Services Administration employees were reportedly assigned to an “ICE surge” team helping find space for OPLA attorneys, Enforcement and Removal Operations personnel and other ICE employees.

A federal solicitation issued in October 2025 sought approximately 6,000 to 8,001 rentable square feet within five miles of Hyattsville for unspecified “law enforcement operations.” Though the solicitation does not name ICE or identify 6505 Belcrest Road specifically, it does show that the federal government was seeking additional law-enforcement space in the immediate area while ICE pursued more space inside the building.

Prince George’s County and DHS need to release the records

A Use and Occupancy Permit generally determines whether a proposed use complies with applicable zoning, building and safety requirements. Prince George’s County may not have had the legal authority to reject an otherwise valid permit simply because ICE was the tenant. But the county has no excuse for refusing to show residents what it approved.

Prince George’s County should release the complete permit file for Suite 310, including the application, stated use, approval date, square footage, anticipated occupancy, floor plans, inspection reports, correction notices, correspondence, and final approvals. And DHS and the General Services Administration should release the lease or occupancy agreement, cost, duration, operational requirements and records identifying which ICE components will work at Metro 1.

Residents need direct answers:

• Will immigrants be detained, questioned, interviewed or processed inside Metro 1?

• Will ICE enforcement officers work there?

• Will the office support arrests connected to the nearby immigration court?

• What protections will prevent ICE from watching or following people who visit the building for food, education or public assistance?

• When was the permit approved?

• Did county officials consider CB-031-2026 before issuing it?

• Would the permit have been prohibited if it had been issued after September 4?

• What will the county, city and agencies inside Metro 1 do if ICE’s presence prevents residents from safely accessing their services?

These answers should have been provided before the permit was approved. They should not require months of public-records requests and community pressure.

Join Friday’s protest at Metro 1

Hyattsville Resistance and Greenbelt Resistance Network are calling on the community to protest outside Metro 1:

Friday, July 31 at 5:00 PM
Metro 1
6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattsville, Maryland

No one should have to risk contact with ICE to get food, take an English class, attend college or ask their local government for help. Residents warned Hyattsville officials about ICE’s expansion months ago, but the county approved the permit without providing the public with the answers it deserves.

Join Hagerstown Rapid Response, Washington County Indivisible, and the Maryland Coalition to Stop the Camps as we stand with our allies in Prince George’s County.