Local and federal officials are giving conflicting accounts about tuberculosis at the GEO Group’s Aurora ICE Processing Center
The Adams County Health Department said Tuesday it has confirmed one laboratory-confirmed case of active tuberculosis disease involving a detainee at the Colorado facility. The department said it is also aware of reports of additional possible cases but has not been able to independently verify them
The confirmation comes as the health department says its public health investigation remains incomplete. “As of today, GEO Aurora ICE Processing Center has not provided all of the information or access necessary for ACHD and Denver Health Tuberculosis Clinic to complete the necessary public health investigation,” Adams County Health Department said in a statement
The Department of Homeland Security offered a different account on Tuesday
“As of today, Aurora does not have any confirmed active tuberculosis (TB) cases,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “Should a TB case be confirmed, the individual would be maintained under appropriate medical isolation precautions, including placement in a negative-pressure room when clinically indicated and available, to minimize the risk of transmission in accordance with established infection-control practices and clinical guidance.”
DHS also said the detention facility “has complied with all federal CDC guidelines and policies on communicable disease, as well as with Colorado law, guidelines, and policies on the same.”
The health department says nearly three weeks ago it requested access to the patient, relevant medical records, housing and movement information, and other records needed to identify people who may have been exposed
According to the health department, that information and access were not voluntarily provided, prompting the department to issue a Public Health Order on June 25 requiring compliance with Colorado public health laws
“Completing the legally required public health investigation is essential to determine whether individuals have been exposed and whether additional evaluation or follow-up is needed,” the ACHD said
The potential exposure investigation could include other detainees as well as facility employees, contractors, visitors and people who have since left the facility
The wife of a man detained at the facility spoke with CBS Colorado on the condition that her identity not be revealed. She said her husband has been detained at the facility for about two months
She told CBS Colorado that her husband first told her about concerns over tuberculosis inside the facility last week
“I was very scared because I didn’t know if he has it or not,” she said. “We were worried about the other people that are inside, like the elderly people.”
According to the woman, her husband told her he had been tested and that his result was negative. She said her husband initially did not understand why he was being tested and he was also told to wear a mask
“They just told him that they need to wear the mask because there was a virus, but they never told him what kind of virus it was,” she said. “He is telling me that others are having a cough and fever and something like that. About 12 people with symptoms, he says.”
She said her husband sleeps in a room with four other people and that detainees spend time in close proximity to one another
“I’m worried because I feel I can’t help him from the outside, and I don’t know if they are giving the correct medication or if they are doing the necessary things to prevent that other people don’t get sick,” she said
State Rep. Lorena Garcia, who represents parts of Adams County, co-sponsored a new Colorado law expanding oversight of immigration detention facilities
“We have seen over and over and over again a lack of care of the people who are being held in GEO centers,” Garcia said. “We have seen repeated attempts from our departments of health to go and investigate, and they’re being refused entry. It doesn’t surprise me that they’re maintaining their pattern.”
Garcia said the TB investigation represents the kind of situation lawmakers considered when passing House Bill 26-1276. The law expands the authority of public health agencies to inspect facilities that house people detained for civil immigration proceedings and allows civil penalties when facilities refuse inspections or fail to comply with certain requirements
“Right now, they need to allow a complete and total investigation by our departments of health,” Garcia said, “to provide any sort of support systems and services necessary to treat the individual and to make sure that others don’t have it.”
She says the new Colorado law provides for civil penalties when a covered facility refuses inspections or fails to comply with certain public health requirements. Garcia said the current potential penalty may not be enough to compel a large corporation to cooperate
“A $50,000 fine every time that they refuse entry, for a multibillion-dollar corporation, maybe isn’t enough teeth,” Garcia said. “If our $50,000 fine isn’t enough, seems like that’s something we’re going to have to fix next year.”
For the families of those detained, Garcia said concerns about their loved ones are not being ignored
“When you have people that are held in custody, they are a ward of that entity that’s holding them in custody,” Garcia said. “When they are a ward of that entity, they have an obligation to keep them safe and to keep them healthy.”
The Adams County Health Department said it will continue working to obtain the information needed to complete its investigation and determine what additional public health action may be necessary
