Michael Wriston
@mwriston.bsky.social
Social landscape and street portrait photographer based in Baltimore, MD.
Forever enamored by the liminal, the misunderstood, and the unconventional.
www.michaelwriston.com
Public record enthusiast @projectsaltbox.bsky.social
Forever enamored by the liminal, the misunderstood, and the unconventional.
www.michaelwriston.com
Public record enthusiast @projectsaltbox.bsky.social
Pinned
Baltimorioles protesting in force outside the ICE field office. #Baltimore
Let me break down simply why DHS’ claim that they used industry standard software with highly complicated tools and datasets to create these forecasts is empty jargon:
I drew this in an industry standard software with highly sophisticated tools.
I drew this in an industry standard software with highly sophisticated tools.
February 17, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Let me break down simply why DHS’ claim that they used industry standard software with highly complicated tools and datasets to create these forecasts is empty jargon:
I drew this in an industry standard software with highly sophisticated tools.
I drew this in an industry standard software with highly sophisticated tools.
Reposted by Michael Wriston
This is the testimony our team will be submitting tomorrow in support of HB 630. We are providing this to other Marylanders to use for inspiration, or to model their own submissions on.
An open letter from the team at Project Salt Box in support of MD House Bill 630
The testimony we will be submitting tomorrow in support of this emergency measure
open.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 12:09 AM
This is the testimony our team will be submitting tomorrow in support of HB 630. We are providing this to other Marylanders to use for inspiration, or to model their own submissions on.
Reposted by Michael Wriston
Hahahahahahaha history nerds for the win
JUST IN: Maryland preservation officials — prompted by a local citizen’s petition — have reopened their review of a proposed Hagerstown ICE detention center, requesting details about a road relocation project that may be linked to the facility.
The state had issued approval on Jan. 29.
The state had issued approval on Jan. 29.
Maryland Reopens Review of Hagerstown Detention Center After Residents Flag Road Project
State officials say they weren't told about a road relocation project that may be linked to the facility, potentially triggering broader federal review.
open.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Hahahahahahaha history nerds for the win
“Michael, I followed you for photography, not politics or ICE activism.”
I am afraid that I have but one life to live and this moment to rise to, and I dare not use it idly.
I am afraid that I have but one life to live and this moment to rise to, and I dare not use it idly.
February 8, 2026 at 1:46 PM
“Michael, I followed you for photography, not politics or ICE activism.”
I am afraid that I have but one life to live and this moment to rise to, and I dare not use it idly.
I am afraid that I have but one life to live and this moment to rise to, and I dare not use it idly.
Marylanders, put it on your calendar, take the day off, and get writing.
Feb. 16th is the first day you can submit testimony on HB 630, which would limit the ability for anyone to turn a pre-existing building into a im/migant detention site.
More info + instructions how in the Salt Box today.
Feb. 16th is the first day you can submit testimony on HB 630, which would limit the ability for anyone to turn a pre-existing building into a im/migant detention site.
More info + instructions how in the Salt Box today.
Today in the Salt Box...
📧A Washington County, Md. resident shares her grief over the looming ICE detention warehouse
🪧 MD residents have a brief — but impactful — opportunity to make their voices heard
📬 We want to hear from you! Send us your stories at projectsaltbox@proton.me
📧A Washington County, Md. resident shares her grief over the looming ICE detention warehouse
🪧 MD residents have a brief — but impactful — opportunity to make their voices heard
📬 We want to hear from you! Send us your stories at projectsaltbox@proton.me
Community Voices: 'I Don't Feel Protected. I Feel Exposed.'
A Washington County resident speaks out on the proposed Williamsport detention facility
projectsaltbox.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Marylanders, put it on your calendar, take the day off, and get writing.
Feb. 16th is the first day you can submit testimony on HB 630, which would limit the ability for anyone to turn a pre-existing building into a im/migant detention site.
More info + instructions how in the Salt Box today.
Feb. 16th is the first day you can submit testimony on HB 630, which would limit the ability for anyone to turn a pre-existing building into a im/migant detention site.
More info + instructions how in the Salt Box today.
Reposted by Michael Wriston
🚨 New: We built a visual tracker of the warehouses ICE is targeting across the US.
Working off an idea from @actualkatherine.bsky.social, we’ve mapped active searches, canceled deals, and linked state property records.
Explore the map here: tinyurl.com/ICEWarehouse...
Working off an idea from @actualkatherine.bsky.social, we’ve mapped active searches, canceled deals, and linked state property records.
Explore the map here: tinyurl.com/ICEWarehouse...
February 4, 2026 at 6:41 PM
🚨 New: We built a visual tracker of the warehouses ICE is targeting across the US.
Working off an idea from @actualkatherine.bsky.social, we’ve mapped active searches, canceled deals, and linked state property records.
Explore the map here: tinyurl.com/ICEWarehouse...
Working off an idea from @actualkatherine.bsky.social, we’ve mapped active searches, canceled deals, and linked state property records.
Explore the map here: tinyurl.com/ICEWarehouse...
Jesus Saves.
Carrollton Ridge. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Carrollton Ridge. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
February 3, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Jesus Saves.
Carrollton Ridge. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Carrollton Ridge. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
If you've thought about supporting PSB financially — do this instead, please. Baltimore and Maryland need this!
For 10 years, AWE has helped people fleeing everything start over in their building at St. Anthony's Parish. This summer they're losing it. The Catholic Diocese is selling the property. AWE tried to buy it, offered more rent, explained the impact on clients. The decision still stands.
You can help.
You can help.
A call for community support from the team at PSB
Help us help an organization that needs it most
projectsaltbox.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 3:22 PM
If you've thought about supporting PSB financially — do this instead, please. Baltimore and Maryland need this!
Reposted by Michael Wriston
Join PSB at @redemmas.org to talk about how we are using public records — from federal procurement databases and land deeds to local plumbing and HVAC permits — to track Homeland Security’s unprecedented growth under the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Sat, Feb. 28, 7:00 PM
3128 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore
Sat, Feb. 28, 7:00 PM
3128 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore
2/28 - Project Salt Box: Open Data as Community Defense by Red Emma's
Get tickets and support Red Emma's by becoming a member
withfriends.co
February 2, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Join PSB at @redemmas.org to talk about how we are using public records — from federal procurement databases and land deeds to local plumbing and HVAC permits — to track Homeland Security’s unprecedented growth under the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Sat, Feb. 28, 7:00 PM
3128 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore
Sat, Feb. 28, 7:00 PM
3128 Greenmount Ave, Baltimore
The Wash Co council has mechanisms to slow and delay the conversion of a warehouse and its surrounding lot into a detention center. But they are choosing not to use them.
The internal Department of Homeland Security letter that prompted the county’s statement — a three-page document dated Jan. 12 — was not a final order. It was what the agency called an “initiation of consultation.”
Washington County Cited Federal Limits on ICE Facility. It Didn't Mention Its Federal Rights.
County officials say they're powerless to block the detention center. Federal law gives them a formal consultative role they haven't publicly discussed.
open.substack.com
January 31, 2026 at 10:47 PM
The Wash Co council has mechanisms to slow and delay the conversion of a warehouse and its surrounding lot into a detention center. But they are choosing not to use them.
Hey that’s us!
Project Salt Box: How citizen sleuths are monitoring ICE in Maryland
Project Salt Box: How citizen sleuths are monitoring ICE in Maryland
Inside their homes scattered around the Baltimore area, the group of watchdogs is unearthing records, like property filings, contracts, and government procurements, that are otherwise overlooked.
buff.ly
January 31, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Hey that’s us!
Taking this photo today absolutely broke me.
Downtown. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Downtown. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
January 31, 2026 at 3:34 AM
Taking this photo today absolutely broke me.
Downtown. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Downtown. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Today in Baltimore….
January 30, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Today in Baltimore….
Reposted by Michael Wriston
For anyone following along, I am 95% sure those full hotels have nothing to do with ICE and are not something to be worried about. Unless you think junior volleyball moms and music educators and mental health professionals are scary
January 30, 2026 at 5:30 PM
For anyone following along, I am 95% sure those full hotels have nothing to do with ICE and are not something to be worried about. Unless you think junior volleyball moms and music educators and mental health professionals are scary
Kinda weird!
We called and tried to reserve hotel rooms at the Hiltons and Marriotts in Baltimore. Any idea why the downtown locations are 100% booked for February?
January 30, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Kinda weird!
It’s been a busy week. RIP my inbox.
Here’s how to help.
Here’s how to help.
PSB has been spotted in reporting from @thebaltimorebanner.com, @baltimorebeat.bsky.social, WYPR, and @washingtonpost.com this week!
Lots of people asking how you can help. Well, here are some ways!
1. Donate to local orgs
2. Use our data for good!
3. Send us tips or things you want to know!
Lots of people asking how you can help. Well, here are some ways!
1. Donate to local orgs
2. Use our data for good!
3. Send us tips or things you want to know!
January 30, 2026 at 3:41 PM
It’s been a busy week. RIP my inbox.
Here’s how to help.
Here’s how to help.
Had to take a selfie for an upcoming thing (maybe).
January 30, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Had to take a selfie for an upcoming thing (maybe).
The rabbit hole on the proposed Hagerstown detention center is deep.
“We were prisoners of war.” The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation says they successfully exited a $29.9M contract after a "rogue" tribal official signed on to design the national ICE detention sites, citing the "harm and trauma" mirrored in the project. The Washington County facility was one of them.
ICE Now Owns a Hagerstown Warehouse. A Plan to Design It Is in Shambles.
The first confirmed site in a proposed immigration detention network has been purchased near Hagerstown, even as the Native American nation tied to its design work says it has exited the contract
open.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:40 PM
The rabbit hole on the proposed Hagerstown detention center is deep.
CASH USA.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
January 29, 2026 at 4:31 AM
CASH USA.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
ICE HSI is exploring companies to help them buy user data revealed by ad tech capabilities, a recent SAM.gov RFI suggests.
By purchasing location data from commercial brokers rather than demanding it from carriers, federal agencies contend they can bypass Fourth Amendment protections entirely.
To locate targets, ICE turns to the industry tracking Americans' phones
Immigration enforcement agents want to tap the mobile advertising industry for surveillance tools that constitutional scholars say circumvent Fourth Amendment protections.
projectsaltbox.substack.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:02 PM
ICE HSI is exploring companies to help them buy user data revealed by ad tech capabilities, a recent SAM.gov RFI suggests.
Humbled that @projectsaltbox.bsky.social's work was included in reporting from WYPR and @thebaltimorebanner.com today.
The team is really working relentlessly to piece together the rapidly expanding homeland security industrial complex... in Baltimore, and around the U.S.
The team is really working relentlessly to piece together the rapidly expanding homeland security industrial complex... in Baltimore, and around the U.S.
January 28, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Humbled that @projectsaltbox.bsky.social's work was included in reporting from WYPR and @thebaltimorebanner.com today.
The team is really working relentlessly to piece together the rapidly expanding homeland security industrial complex... in Baltimore, and around the U.S.
The team is really working relentlessly to piece together the rapidly expanding homeland security industrial complex... in Baltimore, and around the U.S.
My favorite fence in the city.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
January 28, 2026 at 1:20 AM
My favorite fence in the city.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Druid Heights. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
The purchase of this warehouse places a massive detainee holding and processing facility at the nexus of I-70 and I-81 and further bolsters DHS' growing detention and transportation network in the Maryland region.
BREAKING: DHS has purchased an 800,000-square-foot Hagerstown-area warehouse for $102.4 million.
Property records show ICE now owns the site outright, structuring the deal to remain within Maryland’s Dignity Not Detention Act.
Property records show ICE now owns the site outright, structuring the deal to remain within Maryland’s Dignity Not Detention Act.
BREAKING: DHS Purchases Hagerstown Warehouse for $102.4 Million
By purchasing the property outright, DHS avoids state limits on immigration detention facilities while expanding ICE’s presence in Maryland.
projectsaltbox.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:28 PM
The purchase of this warehouse places a massive detainee holding and processing facility at the nexus of I-70 and I-81 and further bolsters DHS' growing detention and transportation network in the Maryland region.
Today I am:
1. Calling my senators
2. Telling them my city and state of residence so they log my call
3. Telling them not to fund DHS, no matter what
4. Posting receipts
5. Challenging you to do the same thing
Total time = 1 minute, 45 seconds
1. Calling my senators
2. Telling them my city and state of residence so they log my call
3. Telling them not to fund DHS, no matter what
4. Posting receipts
5. Challenging you to do the same thing
Total time = 1 minute, 45 seconds
January 27, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Today I am:
1. Calling my senators
2. Telling them my city and state of residence so they log my call
3. Telling them not to fund DHS, no matter what
4. Posting receipts
5. Challenging you to do the same thing
Total time = 1 minute, 45 seconds
1. Calling my senators
2. Telling them my city and state of residence so they log my call
3. Telling them not to fund DHS, no matter what
4. Posting receipts
5. Challenging you to do the same thing
Total time = 1 minute, 45 seconds
Reposted by Michael Wriston
On a story about allegations of detainees being beaten, abused, and kept in inhumane conditions without access to restrooms, water, and food... This headline is in such bad taste.
Viral video provides rare look inside crowded ICE holding room in Baltimore
Viral video offers rare look inside crowded ICE holding room in Baltimore
A new viral video taken inside an immigration holding room facility in downtown Baltimore is the latest proof of abusive treatment of people confined in federal custody, activists and lawmakers say.
buff.ly
January 27, 2026 at 3:40 PM
On a story about allegations of detainees being beaten, abused, and kept in inhumane conditions without access to restrooms, water, and food... This headline is in such bad taste.