AURORA | Aurora Democratic Congressperson Jason Crow said the privately operated GEO ICE immigrant detention center in Aurora violated state and local laws when the jail prevented health officials from seeking details about a prisoner infected with tuberculosis.
The 1,500-person detention center has been at the center of a handful of recent controversies, including a possible tuberculosis infection.
Crow’s staff, as well as health officials from Adams County Health Department and the state, continue to try to investigate what they say is a confirmed case of tuberculosis in a detainee at the GEO Group detention center in Aurora, but say the facility still has not provided all of the information necessary to complete the investigation, according to state and local officials.
An employee of the GEO ICE facility, Brandon Booth, is accused of shooting Emma Landis, 21, in the ankle as she was leaving a protest outside of the Aurora facility on the evening of July 16.
A statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that as of July 15, the Aurora facility did not have an active tuberculosis case.
However, since then, ICE officials have said that a person linked to the TB case has been deported, according to Crow, appearing Friday at a regularly scheduled job fair in Aurora.
In a new online report by Crow’s congressional office, regularly releasing details from in-person inspections, GEO and ICE staff in Aurora said, “there was one individual being monitored for TB. GEO medical staff confirmed that there was a detainee that tested positive for Tuberculosis but that the detainee has been deported. GEO and ICE staff said they held a medical town hall for detainees in the affected area and that they had the option to be tested and those tests were done.”
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.
Hope Schuler, communications director at the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, said last week 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 the department had not yet been given access to the facility or the information it needed.
Adams County Health Department officials also said last week that they continued to seek information and work with the state health department to investigate the case.
“Because this remains an active public health investigation, we cannot comment on potential future enforcement actions or ongoing discussions among partner agencies,” Adams County Health Department said in a statement.
Crow said Friday that it was clear to him GEO had acted outside the law because it’s a private company operating the facility, subject to all state and local jurisdictions.
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.”
“ACHD continues to seek the information and access necessary to complete this legally required public health investigation,” Dr. Kelly Weidenbach, executive director of the Adams County Health Department, said in an earlier statement. “This includes access to medical records, the patient, and information necessary to identify individuals who may have been exposed. Because ACHD has not yet received all of the information necessary to complete its investigation, the Department cannot independently verify reports regarding additional cases or determine whether additional individuals require or determine whether additional individuals require evaluation or follow-up.”
The health department said the facility did not voluntarily provide the information it needed to investigate the tuberculosis case and the department issued a Public Health Order on June 25 to require the facility to comply with Colorado laws around tuberculosis investigations.
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 did 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.”
“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,” the statement said.
Tuberculosis is an airborne, infectious, bacterial disease, and the department says those potentially exposed include other detainees, facility staff, contractors, visitors and people who have since left the facility.
While tuberculosis is preventable and curable with treatment, the health department says untreated active disease can cause severe lung damage, spread to other organs, and may result in permanent disability or death.
“Prompt identification of exposed individuals is critical to preventing additional illness,” the statement said.
Aurora’s city council 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, but those ordinances have not yet gone into effect.
Councilmember Gianina Horton said last week she’s frustrated by the actions of the GEO facility, which she said “completely disregards the safety and well-being of Aurorans.”
“I really appreciate (the health department’s) boldness to let the public know that the GEO facility is resisting the need to share information about a serious airborne disease in a potential public health crisis,” Horton said. “The GEO facility in particular continues to choose resistance to cooperating with the Adams County Health Department and it doesn’t bode well for trust that they’re doing due diligence to protect the safety of everyone in their facility, much less everyone outside.”
State legislators also passed a new law this year to allow additional health and safety inspections at immigration facilities, with facilities facing financial penalties of up to $50,000 for denying inspectors access. The GEO Group is suing the state over the law.
The facility was most recently inspected by Congressman Jason Crow’s staff in July, but those report results have not yet been completed. In March, Crow’s staff reported that there were more than 1,200 people detained. Crow’s report in March says the facility said there were no communicable diseases, but staff spoke with a man who was visibly ill and who said others had similar symptoms.
Crow said Friday that for-profit prisons, like the GEO facility, “perpetuate ICE’s lawlessness and endangered our communities.”
“I’ve led the charge to end this broken and inhumane system. Until we do, I’ll continue to conduct oversight to hold ICE accountable,” Crow said.
Crow has led legislative efforts repeatedly to end the nation’s private-company-run prisons, but such legislation has never made it to the president’s desk.
Crow said the closest the U.S. has come to ending privately run prisons was during the Biden administration, and it was a disappointing failure that it never happened then.
The GEO facility in Aurora has a history of not properly reporting disease outbreaks or cooperating with health department investigations. Earlier this year, the Adams County Health Department reported not being able to get information to investigate a potential widespread illness.
In 2019, the facility didn’t fully report information about detainees with chickenpox and mumps.
Mr. Crowe is a confederate traitor to the US Constitution he swore to defend—straight up.
See Supremacy clause. State and local laws do not apply to the feds.
The confederate states of the 1860s already made this mistake, did they not?
Jason Crow despises GEO, ICE and anyone that wants to solve the immigration problem in Aurora through legal deportation. He’s totally biased and the Sentinel Blog is part of his method to pass on his hatred, continuing to split our City and Country. I wish we could elect citizens that want to bring us together as one.
I really don’t need or want a job but if I would have known about a job fair at a cowboy bar, I would have attended just for a beer and laughs.