John Hickenlooper denied tuberculosis answers at Aurora ICE facility

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper on Monday walked into the immigrant detention facility in Aurora with questions about the possible spread of tuberculosis within the facility. He walked out without answers.

Hickenlooper said whenever he asked a tuberculosis-related question — Who had been tested? What type of investigation had been conducted? Where are people who were exposed to the disease located now? — he was stonewalled.

“The answers they gave were, ‘We’re not going to release any information on the advice of counsel,’” Hickenlooper said, standing outside the facility following his visit.

Monday was the deadline for the GEO Group, which operates the facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to comply with a state public health order issued last week to provide information on the tuberculosis investigation.

As of Monday evening, it was unclear whether the GEO Group intended to comply with the order. A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said shortly after 5 p.m. that GEO had not yet provided the required information but that the order gave the company until midnight to do so. Hickenlooper said when he asked GEO representatives whether they would comply with the order, the representatives wouldn’t say.

The state’s public health order came after weeks of GEO officials ignoring a public health order issued by Adams County health authorities after a single case of tuberculosis was identified in the facility in June.

“I’ve never in my life seen a time where a direct order from the county public health authority or a direct order from the state office of public health is ignored,” Hickenlooper said. “That they say, ‘No, we’re not required to do that and the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is going to be OK with that.’”

Hickenlooper said he intended to call CDC officials later Monday to press the issue.

Monday’s events deepen the standoff between local and federal officials over who has oversight authority for the facility.

State and local health departments say they should be able to conduct inspections and investigations at the facility to protect the surrounding community as well as those locked inside. Until recently, they say, those inspections took place with little interference.

The GEO Group and federal officials contend that local inspections infringe upon federal authority. The GEO Group has sued in federal court to block a recently passed state law that strengthens local inspection powers.

At stake is the risk of potentially silent spread of tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that can lie dormant in the body for months or years and that can be fatal if not treated. A testing lab notified CDPHE of a positive test for a person detained at the GEO facility June 21. The person had previously been briefly held in the Alamosa County jail, according to the state’s public health order.

GEO Group and ICE officials say there have been no other cases identified and that they conducted their own public health investigation and did contact tracing to find additional people who needed testing. But they have not shared details of that investigation with state or local health officials. Nor did they share information with Hickenlooper on Monday.

Other reports suggest there may have been a larger outbreak of tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis spreads through the air, meaning it moves around most easily when people are crammed together. Hickenlooper said he visited a dorm area during his visit Monday and saw “a lot of people confined to a small amount of space.”

“Every time you’re in a place like this, you realize what a horrendous thing it is to have so many people confined to such a small space,” Hickenlooper said.

One concern for state and local health officials is that the disease will spread outside the facility. Detainees are frequently moved or released. Meanwhile, the facility employs hundreds of people, who also may be at risk of exposure.

“Every county public health official around the country is going to be a little suspicious about whether this is coming to their town,” Hickenlooper said.