AURORA | The Aurora City Council on Monday approved a statement calling on the immigration detention facility run by The GEO Group to cooperate or face consequences with county and state health investigators after a case of tuberculosis was confirmed at the site.
During a Monday study session, the council agreed to publish a statement sharing concerns about the public health risks and reiterating the ethical and legal requirements of the facility to comply with investigations.
“We demand that the GEO ICE Processing Facility immediately and fully cooperate with public health officials to determine the scope of the active tuberculosis case to make sure that it is contained,” the statement says.
Mayor Mike Coffman said the issue was not about how council members feel about immigration, but rather about tackling a public health crisis. He indicated litigation could happen in the future if the facility continues to ignore public health officials’ requests.
The Adams County Health Department has been investigating a confirmed case of tuberculosis in a detainee at the GEO Group detention center in Aurora since June, but says the detention facility still has not provided all of the information necessary to complete the investigation.
A statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that as of July 15, the Aurora facility did not currently have an active tuberculosis case, but local health officials said that at one point, there was an inmate who had tested positive for tuberculosis.
Hope Schuler, communications director at the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, said the department received “a communication from GEO indicating there were no active cases of TB present in the facility, but it did not detail how they have determined there is no TB present.” She added that as of July 17, the department had not yet been given access to the facility or information it needed.
The Adams County Health Department also said on Friday that it continues to seek information and work with the state health department to investigate the case. The statement says the intent of the investigation is not to assign blame, but prevent disease transmission.
“Our responsibility is simple: to apply Colorado’s public health laws consistently, follow the science, and to protect the health of every person and every community we serve,” Dr. Kelly Weidenbach, executive director of the Adams County Health Department, said in the statement.
The health department previously said it confirmed one case of tuberculosis, adding the GEO facility has not notified the department about other confirmed cases.
The health department issued a Public Health Order on June 25 to require the facility to comply with Colorado laws around tuberculosis investigations after the facility did not voluntarily provide the information needed to investigate the tuberculosis case.
Colorado law requires facilities and healthcare providers to notify local and state public health authorities on a strict timeline and requires the local health departments to investigate every confirmed case. It is illegal to “willfully violate, disobey or disregard” a public health order.
A statement from an ICE spokesperson said that as of July 15, the Aurora facility does not have any confirmed active cases of tuberculosis and has complied with “all federal CDC guidelines and policies on communicable disease, as well as with Colorado law, guidelines, and policies on the same.”
Aurora Congressman Jason Crow said Friday that he believes the GEO facility broke state laws by not cooperating with the investigations.
In a July 15 online report by Crow’s congressional office, which regularly releases details from in-person inspections, GEO and ICE staff in Aurora said there was one individual being monitored for tuberculosis, adding that there was a detainee who tested positive for tuberculosis but that they had been deported. Staff also said they held a medical town hall for detainees in the affected area, who had the option to be tested, and those tests have been completed.
Crow said Friday his office was unable to confirm the deportation, and while the person may no longer be inside the Aurora facility, it’s unclear whether that person has now been removed from the country.
Congressional staff raised concerns about transporting the person on transport with other people, possibly being exposed.
Attorney General Phil Weiser said he agreed GEO Group had to comply, but he did not say what specific legal action his office might pursue.
“As a private company, GEO Group is required to comply with state health and safety regulations,” Weiser said in a statement. “The reported tuberculosis case at the ICE detention camp in Aurora is a serious public health issue and GEO must work with the State to investigate any potential outbreak or exposure to others. My office stands ready to work with the Governor’s Office and state health officials to bring GEO into compliance with the law.”
Aurora’s city council also recently passed two ordinances that will require the facility to report communicable diseases to the fire department and submit to regular health and safety inspections, which went into effect on July 25. It’s unclear if the ordinances would apply to the current tuberculosis investigation or would only apply to future confirmed cases.