The private owner of a planned U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Elkridge is suing Howard County, claiming officials obstructed the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration law and open detention sites.

Genesis GSA Strategic One LLC was nearly finished retrofitting an office building at 6522 Meadowridge Road to serve as ICE’s Baltimore field office, currently located at the federal building in Hopkins Plaza, when the county canceled its building permits last month. Days later, elected leaders in Howard passed emergency legislation banning private immigrant detention in the county, sparking hundreds of residents to stage rallies in support of the measure.

The Michigan-based development company responded with a federal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland, citing the Constitution’s supremacy clause, which gives precedence to federal law when it conflicts with state or local law. The suit names the county; its Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits; department Director Robert Frances; County Executive Calvin Ball; and the County Council as defendants.

Genesis is seeking a court injunction that would compel the county to reissue permits so the building can be finished, to declare the emergency ban unconstitutional and to block local authorities from taking further action against Genesis for providing goods and services to the government.

Howard County does not comment on pending litigation, spokesperson Safa Hira said in an email.

Genesis is being represented by the law firm of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

Michael Edney, an attorney with the firm, said in an email that former President Joe Biden’s administration asked the family-owned company to build the facility. Genesis spent more than $21 million to acquire and renovate the property, the suit states.

“Howard County should stop playing politics with people’s livelihoods,” Edney said.

The suit says the county had signed off on more than 90% of the construction before revoking permits Feb. 2 on the grounds that officials had just learned ICE would occupy the building.

Federal contracts and county records show plans for the facility date to 2022. According to the lawsuit, the U.S. General Services Administration, which owns and manages property for the federal government, signed an “iron-clad” lease to rent the redeveloped building before Genesis purchased it in 2023 for about $4 million.

Neither Genesis nor its employees will occupy it once finished, the suit states. It contends the federal government has a long-standing practice of instructing private developers to acquire property, renovate or reconstruct it, and then to lease the space for its own use.

None of the building’s renderings, first submitted to the county in February 2025, mentions ICE or immigration — but they label weapons and ammunition storage, noncontact visitor booths and secure areas for detainees.

Ball said he became aware of the project in January and alerted the public about a week later, on Jan. 31.

The complaint challenges the timeline for when the county became aware of the project. Even before Howard issued the permits, county staff attended Zoom calls with ICE officials, Genesis representatives, architects and engineers to discuss the project, including the existence of detention areas, the suit states.

During one call, the suit says, a project manager for ICE explained what would take place at the facility — the Department of Homeland Security and ICE intended to use it primarily for office space and as a “small detainee processing facility.”

The manager said no detainee would be held there for more than 12 hours or outside operating hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Detainees requiring overnight stays would be transferred to other facilities, such as county jails that have contracts with the federal government, according to the suit.

Maryland elected officials have raised questions about overcrowding in the Baltimore ICE field office. A viral video posted online in January shows dozens of detainees packed into one of the holding rooms.

Attorneys for Genesis said the county’s justification that developers had failed to meet Maryland code requirements for immigration detention facilities was flawed. The code applies only to privately operated immigration detention facilities — not facilities operated by the government or its contractors, the suit claims.

The lawsuit also takes issue with the council’s emergency legislation, which prohibits the issuance of permits for privately owned detention centers. Genesis’ attorneys argue the bill unconstitutionally attempts to regulate the way the federal government organizes its affairs, forcing it to own rather than to lease property for certain activities.

If the courts side with the company, Howard County could be on the hook for the cost of pausing construction and attorney fees.

The litigation comes as federal immigration is expanding in Maryland, prompting worry that the state will face an ICE surge like that in Minneapolis, where federal agents killed two U.S. citizens. Other ICE facilities have emerged recently in Baltimore and Washington counties.