Colorado health officials still unable to investigate tuberculosis case at ICE detention facility

Shuler wrote that lawyers for The GEO Group, the company that operates the detention center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have stated that there are no confirmed or suspected cases of tuberculosis at the site, but it is impossible for CDPHE and the Adams County Health Department to verify that claim without a public health contact investigation.

“A complete investigation remains necessary because people who were recently infected may initially test negative,” she wrote.

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Colorado law requires public health agencies to investigate confirmed tuberculosis cases. Adams County health officials became aware of one laboratory-confirmed case and issued a public health order on June 25 to require compliance from GEO. CDPHE then gave GEO a July 17 deadline for information and access, which went unanswered.

Immigration advocates press for action on tuberculosis case at Aurora ICE facility

Immigration advocates believe there has been more than one case, and an unnamed person detained in the facility told The Guardian last week that at least 12 people have tested positive for the disease.

Staff from the offices of Rep. Jason Crow of Aurora and Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, visited the facility on July 15 and wrote in a report that ICE said it can “deny facility access to local officials as they are a federal facility.” Hickenlooper’s office submitted a formal inquiry with the Department of Homeland Security over the issue, spokesperson Madeleine Hughes said.

During that visit, GEO and ICE staff told the lawmakers there were no active tuberculosis cases at the facility and one person was being monitored. Correspondence to Crow’s office from July 17 also noted that GEO conducted its own contact investigation and identified 61 people exposed to the initial case, according to the report. GEO placed those people in a “precautionary cohort.” The staff members also noted very high temperatures inside the facility, which align with reports from advocates that the air conditioning is not working. Temperatures in the Denver metro area have approached or hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit in recent days.

“ICE is out of control and needs to be reined in,” Crow said in a statement. “When our immigration detention system is driven by corporate greed, it allows corporations like GEO Group to cut corners on medical care and safety to benefit their bottom line.”

An unnamed ICE spokesperson said last week that the facility is complying with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on communicable diseases.

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