Baltimore Residents Fear Increased ICE Raids | Baltimore Beat
Guidance distributed to staff at the Walters Art Museum in late January outlined procedures for interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, instructing them not to interfere with agency actions even without a warrant in public spaces. The internal memo, obtained by the Baltimore Beat, reflects growing anxieties among Baltimore institutions and residents about an anticipated increase in federal immigration enforcement.
The guidance instructs Walters staff to direct ICE officers to the Security Supervisor on duty upon identification. It explicitly states that ICE officers are not obligated to present a warrant to access public areas within the museum and that staff should not impede their actions if they choose not to wait. This directive sparked concern among some employees, who fear the museum may be willing to fully cooperate with ICE detentions.
“I think the feeling that was prevalent was that the museum was going to capitulate to ICE if they ever came here,” one Walters employee told the Baltimore Beat, requesting anonymity. “I didn’t seek to be complicit in that.”
The internal preparations at the Walters Art Museum arrive as federal immigration enforcement is expected to expand in Baltimore. Project Saltbox has reported on the impending increase in ICE activity. This anticipated surge has prompted fears among service workers, teachers, nurses, and business owners throughout the city, many of whom worry about being caught in potentially unlawful raids and detentions.
Concerns about ICE operations extend to the conditions within the agency’s Baltimore facilities. Maryland Representative April McClain Delaney recently toured the ICE field office and holding facility located in the George H. Fallon Federal Building. Delaney described the conditions as “heartbreaking” and “horrendous,” noting that the facility, designed for short-term detention of up to 12 hours, is being used to hold individuals for periods of 24, 48, or 72 hours, or even longer, pending transfer or legal proceedings.
Delaney stated the holding rooms can accommodate up to 226 detainees. Her visit followed the circulation of a viral video depicting crowded conditions within one of the holding rooms, prompting a statement from the Department of Homeland Security attributing the overcrowding to winter weather delays in detainee transfers. Delaney had initially requested a visit on December 11th, but her request was “repeatedly rescheduled by ICE with no explanations given.”
In a separate incident on March 24, 2026, an ICE raid caused disruption in Langley, Maryland, with construction workers reportedly fleeing the area. HereBaltimore.com reported on the event, highlighting community concerns regarding the impact of increased immigration enforcement.
Local activists are preparing for a potential increase in ICE activity, with some anticipating large-scale raids similar to those that occurred in Chicago as early as Thanksgiving, according to the Courier Newsroom.