After hearing reports of a possible influx of immigration enforcement agents, City Councilman Mark Parker spent the last week rooting around downtown parking lots.

His goal? Trying to find evidence of both marked and unmarked vehicles proving the stepped-up presence of ICE in Baltimore.

Some have combed social media for proof of the controversial government agency widening their footprint in Charm City. And others are increasing efforts to inform community members to better prepare for potential interactions with agents or patrol officers.

With limited infrastructure in place to support a surge — such as enough detention bed space in the greater Baltimore region — a huge ramp-up in immigration enforcement could be a challenge. But some residents and officials say they aren’t taking any chances. They don’t want to be the next Minneapolis.

A series of events have been building in Baltimore that have left its residents susceptible to rumors that an immigration enforcement crackdown was already underway, Parker believes.

He points to the past year of ICE detentions and separations of families that have become more intense and violent, which have, in turn, made residents more prone to rumors.

“We know that our neighbors are experiencing inhumane and unlawful conditions at the Fallon Building,” Parker said of the federal building where the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency houses detainees. “We know that DHS is attempting to dramatically increase their detention capacity inside Maryland.”

These factors have created an atmosphere ripe for misinformation that sent Parker into the heart of downtown searching for a deployment of vehicles.

“It is understandable that rumors around increasing immigration enforcement spread rapidly through the community,” he said.

A request for comment to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as well as ICE were not immediately returned.

Detention center controversy

While Baltimore is grappling with a looming surge by ICE, other developments in the suburbs and beyond have sparked new controversy.

Washington County officials last week disclosed federal plans to turn a sprawling warehouse into a immigration processing and detention center that could house as many as 1,500 detainees in Western Maryland. Meanwhile, Howard County officials recently revoked a would-be private immigration detention center’s building permit after the project was criticized by activists and local elected leaders.

In Washington County, local officials so far have said there is little they can do to stop the project because the federal government bought the 825,000-square-foot building, an apparent work-around from state law that has until now all but banned such facilities in Maryland.

That detention capacity would likely be a necessary precursor to escalating the immigration enforcement some residents fear. According to federal officials, the facility would include “holding and processing spaces,” cafeterias, and areas for office and health care.,

But it’s not clear when the detention center will open.

Carmen Iguina González, deputy director for immigration detention at the ACLU’s National Prison Project, said that converting a warehouse into that type of facility would typically take a year or more.

She cautioned that recent moves by the federal government — purchasing abandoned prison facilities that have been sitting empty, or setting up tent facilities — indicate there could be a “rush to open” detention space, whether or not it complies with corrections standards.

“A timeline of a few months to convert what was a commercial warehouse into a facility that is equipped to constitutionally and humanely house individuals is not realistic,” she said.

At the national level, both of the state’s U.S. senators, Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen, vowed last week to vote against giving ICE “one more dime” in funding, “as long as they continue terrorizing our communities, violating people’s rights, and ducking accountability for their killings and abuses,” Van Hollen said in a statement to The Banner.

A chilling effect

In Baltimore, in addition to being gripped by the images and stories from the Midwest, city officials have spent the past few weeks bracing for a potential shift in attention here.

Watching the series of events unfold in Minneapolis has been “unsettling” for Baltimore City Council member Phylicia Porter.

“It’s like we’re waiting for the shoe to drop, but I just can’t wait like that. It’s very upsetting. It’s very outrageous,” she said. “But it also is empowering as well.”

Porter said she has been active in making sure her community members — 20% of whom are immigrants — know their rights when faced with immigration enforcement officers.

“I don’t know where they’re staying,” she said about the immigration enforcement officers. “But I do know where they’re targeting. They’re targeting my district: South Baltimore, Lakeland, Cherry Hill. And we received sightings in Curtis Bay.”

Regardless of a verified increase of agents in the area, it has had a chilling effect for residents, Porter said.

“I just received word from a family, they actually had the flu, and the child needed to go to the hospital and they couldn’t get to the hospital,” she said. “Luckily, they were able to subside the fever. But the child could not get to the hospital for fear that they would get picked up.”

Parker said he worries about the long-term effects it will have on these communities.

“To live with this level of daily fear and anxiety, for yourself, your family members, your neighbors, your students, your friends, is exhausting,” the councilman said. “Healing is nearly impossible because the harm continues to occur.”

Recent federal legislation championed by the administration of President Donald Trump has added billions of dollars to immigration enforcement, leading to an expected spending spree to ramp up activities in states like Maryland.

But reported signs of a possible surge in ICE’s activities and footprint in Baltimore have been so far “unsubstantiated,” said Edith Hinson, co-director of the detained adult program for The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.

Hinson’s organization is already increasing their efforts in Baltimore. They have hired defense attorneys and paralegals to focus on representation designed to keep them immigrants in the country based on their constitutional rights.

“What we’re seeing is that when folks are detained, their rights have been violated,” Hinson explained. This past year, the center’s related habeas corpus cases have increased at least 300%.

Powerful rumors

Although Parker was unsuccessful in his attempts to locate evidence of a growing ICE presence this week, he thought it was important to try.

“I am keenly aware of how powerful rumors can be given the high-anxiety state of our community,” he explained. “People look to their elected officials to provide them with solid information, not rumors, so that they can make informed decisions about what is best for their families. I’ll always do everything I can to find and provide that information.”

One of those rumors had ICE agents staying at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor. Tracy Lingo, a union leader representing hospitality workers in Baltimore, also heard those rumors, but has found no truth to them. Hilton Hotel did not respond to requests for comment.

Lingo’s union, UNITE HERE, represents workers in the hospitality industry, including the Baltimore Mariott Waterfront and Live! Casino Maryland.

Still, the rumors, along with the recent killings by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, stirred fear and anxiety among workers.

Union leaders are bargaining with employers to not allow ICE into properties unless they have a specific judicial warrant, Lingo said.

“We’ve been very clear with employers that we think they need to speak out,” Lingo said, adding that the crackdown nationally has damaged her industry and tourism overall.

At City Hall, Baltimore mayor’s office spokesperson Silas Woods III said the office was “closely monitoring” rumors that are circulating about a potential increase in ICE activity.

“At this time, we have not been able to independently verify reports of a coordinated surge taking place this week,” he wrote Friday in an email to The Banner. “We remain in regular contact with partners and are paying attention to developments in other cities to better understand what may be occurring nationally.”

Reporter Clara Longo De Freitas and photojournalist Jerry Jackson contributed to this story.