Colorado issues new order over tuberculosis at ICE detention center
Colorado health officials on Thursday issued a new demand for information about tuberculosis at the immigrant detention center in Aurora, escalating a showdown between local and federal authorities over oversight of the facility.
The public health order, signed by the top two leaders of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, instructs the GEO Group, which operates the center, to turn over the names and dates of birth of anyone who either tested positive for tuberculosis or was exposed to the disease. It also asks for information about test results, scans and treatments for anyone who may have been infected with tuberculosis.
The order sets Monday as the deadline for compliance.
There has been one confirmed case of tuberculosis — a contagious and potentially fatal disease — at the facility this year. Officials with the GEO Group and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say the person has been removed from the country. Thursday’s public health order also asks GEO to provide information on where the infected person was sent and whether health officials in the destination country were informed.
While ICE and GEO say there have been no other cases of tuberculosis, at least one report has suggested a wider outbreak occurred within the facility. The public health order says more than 400 people work at the facility who, along with any released detainees, could spread tuberculosis into the community.
“CDPHE’s priority is protecting everyone connected to the facility, including detained people, employees, contractors, visitors, and the broader community,” CDPHE Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan said in a statement. “We sought to complete this routine investigation collaboratively, just as we would with any other facility in Colorado. Because repeated requests and the county’s public health order have not produced the necessary information, we are taking this additional step to obtain the information needed to protect public health.”
Unclear effect
While the order cites specific statutory authority for public health officials to investigate cases of tuberculosis, it is unclear what effect it will have.
Health officials in Adams County have already issued their own public health order. In a town hall meeting last week, Adams County Health Department Executive Director Kelly Weidenbach said the county’s ability to enforce its order is limited.
“There are not any civil penalties for tuberculosis compliance with investigations or public health orders or requests,” she said.
In that same meeting, CDPHE Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Rachel Herlihy said the state’s authority and the county’s authority to order compliance with an investigation are largely the same.
“A public health order from the state wouldn’t necessarily introduce any sort of new authority,” Herlihy said.
However, Herlihy noted that a state order “could potentially lead to other legal action in court if it got to that.” In the case of a state order, that legal action would be led by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
Looming lawsuit
Any effort to enforce the order through the courts may be complicated, though.
The GEO Group has sued state and Adams County officials in federal court, challenging a newly adopted state law that strengthens Colorado’s authority to conduct health and safety inspections at the facility. The lawsuit argues that the new law infringes upon federal authority and unfairly singles out the Aurora detention center.
Adams County’s and CDPHE’s orders cite longstanding state laws related to controlling tuberculosis — and not the new law. But, during the town hall last week, Weidenbach said she has been advised that legal action over the order would likely get sucked into the lawsuit and put on pause while the lawsuit is pending.
CDPHE’s Thursday order comes after repeated efforts by state and local officials to learn more information about the tuberculosis infection. According to a news release announcing the order, Ryan has already sent one letter requesting information, while Gov. Jared Polis has sent two.
“Although GEO provided general statements about its response, it did not provide the requested access or underlying information needed to complete a full public health investigation,” the agency stated in the news release.
Tuberculosis is a bacterial disease that is best known for causing a painful, sometimes bloody cough. Treatment is with antibiotics. People are only contagious when they have active tuberculosis, but the bacteria can lie inactive in an infected person for months or years before causing illness.
People who have been detained, who work at or who have visited the Aurora facility and who think they may have tuberculosis should contact a health care provider or the Denver Health Tuberculosis Clinic at (303) 602-7240.