ICE Presence in Howard County Sparks Community Concern; Most County Officials Stay Silent
After two weeks of unverified ICE sightings, Howard County Police confirmed one operation, but the extent of ICE activity in the county is still unclear. Here's what we know.
The Howard County Police Department confirmed for the first time that federal immigration agents are operating in the area on Saturday, following an incident where a man was pulled from his car on Route 175. The admission validates weeks of claims from local advocacy groups who have insisted that ICE activity in the Central Maryland county was becoming more frequent.
Communication Crisis
This comes days after a social media dispute in which HoCo Councilwoman Liz Walsh posted a warning about potential ICE activity in the Oakland Mills neighborhood. HCPD responded publicly on Facebook, clarifying it was a covert operation related to an “online child solicitation investigation.” The post was even picked up by LibsofTiktok, an account infamous for inciting mass doxxing campaigns of queer faculty.
When asked if she still believed it was an ICE operation, Walsh said she wasn’t sure. “We sent both ICE and HCPD pictures we had of that location and timeframe and neither of them responded like they have in the past,” Walsh said. “So it causes me worry. If our Chief can’t identify whether the forces are his or not, how are our citizens supposed to?”
HCPD noted that they do not cooperate with ICE, nor does ICE share information with them, and reaffirmed that what took place in Oakland Mills was solely a local police operation. HCPD didn’t immediately respond to Project Salt Box’s attempt to clarify why there wasn’t the usual communication with the Councilperson in this particular instance.
Walsh detailed how previously, an ICE liaison would communicate with the Howard County Council and be transparent about their goals for targeting and arresting people. But after they learned last summer that it was unlikely for the county to roll back The Liberty Act, its sanctuary law, they ceased meeting with the council.
Silence From Public Servants
Howard County’s community is around 22% foreign-born, yet most officials in the county have been quiet on the subject of ICE’s local presence. The rare exception seems to be the aforementioned Walsh, who has been vocal about her concerns.
Current County Executive Calvin Ball’s website and social media have been absent any mention on ICE in recent months, but today, he broke his silence by announcing emergency legislation that would forbid permitting for privately owned detention centers, after a county inspection of an Elkridge building that was being renovated for use as a detention facility. The legislation’s full text will be available online Monday. Ball’s office did not respond to Project Salt Box’s request for comment.
Correction: Originally, this story said Ball’s social media and website contained no mention of ICE, but the press release was posted in the afternoon.
Councilperson Christiana Rigby recently shared a statement with know your rights materials and resources.
Councilperson Deb Jung did post an open letter on her Facebook page acknowledging the official ICE activity and the killing of Alex Pretti, but said the county “can’t prevent Federal agents from entering … or detaining individuals.” She encouraged citizens to know their rights, peacefully protest, and support local advocacy organizations. She did not reply to Project Salt Box’s questions about what, if any, steps are being taken to protect the community from ICE.
Deportation Data
We don’t have recent numbers on the amount of people detained by ICE in Howard County, but there is data from the past few years we can look at, thanks to Deportation Data, a resource that collects and posts information about immigration enforcement.
According to their data sets, since Donald Trump’s second term began through October 2025, there were 40 arrests by ICE in Howard County. 24 of those resulted in deportation or voluntary removal. For comparison, for the same period in 2024, there were only 13 arrests with 11 resulting in deportation or voluntary removal. That’s three times as many arrests.
Additionally, the data suggests ICE is casting a significantly wider net for who they’re targeting than they did previously. In 2024, all except two of those arrested already had criminal charges. One had charges filed; the other was arrested purely for civil immigration enforcement.
Compare that to this year when more than half of those arrested had no criminal record or pending charges. This echoes findings from The Baltimore Banner in December, which noted most of those arrested by ICE in Maryland had no criminal record.
Citizen Reporting and Rapid Response Leads The Way
While public officials are holding their tongues, community members are forming online groups and rapid response networks to make sure no one disappears their neighbors.
Reported recent sightings placed ICE at LA Mart, Planet Fitness, and multiple reports noted activity at and around Columbia Mall. One source anonymously provided Project Salt Box with a picture of a document, which appears to be internal guidance issued to employees of a store at Columbia Mall. It instructs them to cooperate with ICE, but advises employees not to allow ICE into private areas unless they have a judicial warrant. Columbia Mall did not respond to request for comment.
Disruption to Normal Life
Even if there’s only been one official confirmed ICE sighting, community members are feeling the impact. In the past couple weeks, members of the Howard County community have been online expressing fear about leaving their homes, while others noted what seemed to be apartment raids.
Tina Horn, Chief External Affairs Officer of Communications for Luminus Network, a local nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants, said they’ve lost clients before to ICE activity.
But it goes beyond simple arrests. “We are seeing significant chilling effects within the immigrant community where we work,” said Horn. “We are seeing folks who are anxious about going to the grocery store. We are seeing folks who are paying their neighbors to go pick up their children from school.”