Howard County revoked a building permit for a private detention facility proposed in Elkridge that authorities say is intended for use by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Hours after the announcement Monday by County Executive Calvin Ball, hundreds of residents and immigration advocates packed a County Council meeting for a preliminary vote on emergency legislation aimed at blocking the project.

The public learned of the proposed detention center, located at 6522 Meadowridge Road, on Friday, when Ball announced he would pursue emergency legislation aimed at banning permits for privately owned detention centers.

Community members staged a rally Monday night in support of that measure outside the government headquarters in Ellicott City. They lit candles, sang songs and chanted “no detention.”

“To combine illegal incarceration with profit motives is a very perverse incentive,” said Ray Turner, an Ellicott City resident who joined the rally. “It takes us a long way down a road we don’t want to go.”

It was Helen Hoepfner’s first time attending a rally, she said while gripping a flag emblazoned with the words “Abolish ICE.”

Council members voted unanimously to move forward with the hearing on the measure, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday. A final vote on the measure is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.

Immediately following the preliminary vote, council Chair Opel Jones told a packed room that the legislation was “99.99% likely to pass” since four of the five council members — Jones and fellow Democrats Christiana Rigby, Liz Walsh and Deb Jung — had agreed to co-sponsor the legislation. His statement drew a standing ovation from the gallery.

“Please show up in force, please pack the house,” Jones said before encouraging the public to keep their Wednesday testimonies concise.

The Elkridge property is owned by Genesis GSA Strategic One, but in August 2025 a third-party company known as McKeever Services received a permit to renovate the space. Much of the work on the property covered by the permit is nearing completion, Ball said. The project passed inspections, with some conditions, on Dec. 29.

When asked about the monthslong gap between the permit and the emergency legislation, Ball said the executive’s office doesn’t typically delve deeply into building permit matters.

“Now that we are aware of this information, we are taking action,” he said.

The project was previously unknown to most Howard County residents, about 22% of whom are foreign-born.

A county inspection of the Elkridge office building raised concerns that the project met the state’s definition of an immigration detention facility, which prompted Ball’s actions, he said Friday.

The facility is located in an office park near health care providers, schools, parks and residential neighborhoods, raising “serious and legitimate concerns about community safety, public health, welfare and quality of life,” Ball said.

“It is our responsibility as local leaders to act before harm occurs and not after,” he said.

Ball’s administration also issued countywide guidance Monday afternoon outlining how to respond if immigration enforcement officers enter county property. Howard’s Liberty Act, which passed in 2020, prevents county employees from assisting with immigration enforcement or sharing anyone’s immigration status.

The Howard County bill comes days after the Department of Homeland Security bought a warehouse near Hagerstown with the intention of retrofitting it into an immigration detention center.

Banner reporter Sara Ruberg contributed to this story.