This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Colorado's health department sent an open letter to GEO Group Tuesday requesting "immediate cooperation" with a public health investigation of at least one confirmed case of active tuberculosis at the corporation’s ICE Processing Center in Aurora.
In the letter to the facility’s warden and health administration, Colorado’s Department of Health and Environment Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan asks GEO to provide the “access, records, and information needed” to conduct the public health investigation of the case. The letter also calls for GEO to allow public health investigators access to the center no later than Friday, July 17.
It notes that active tuberculosis, also called TB, is a serious disease, spread through the air, but “it is preventable and curable when public health officials can quickly identify, evaluate, and treat people who may have been exposed.”
Without treatment, TB can be fatal, according to the CDC.
Ryan said Adams County Health Department and the Denver Health Tuberculosis Clinic had informed her they had “encountered barriers” to investigating the situation.
CPR requested comment from both GEO Group and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A spokesman for the company referred us to ICE, which has not yet responded.
Ryan wrote that health officials are looking to protect many people who may have been exposed, including detainees, employees, contractors, visitors, people who may have been transferred or released and others. “Immediate cooperation is necessary for the investigation to proceed,” she said.
The letter, to Juan Baltazar, the center’s warden, and Anhtuan Pham, its health administrator, asks GEO to provide medical records of the person diagnosed with TB and others who have been screened for it.
“GEO’s continued failure to provide complete and timely access is impeding a legally required public health investigation,” the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in an emailed statement. “Every delay makes it harder to identify, test, and treat people who may have been exposed and increases the risk of further transmission. We are asking GEO to provide public health investigators with immediate access and the information needed to protect people inside the facility, employees, and the broader community.”
Governor Polis also weighs in
Governor Jared Polis has also called for GEO Group to let public health officials “do their jobs.”
“I am deeply concerned by the reports of active tuberculosis at the GEO facility in Aurora and the inability for local public health to do their jobs because of interference from the facility,” Polis said in a statement emailed by his office.
“We are focused on protecting public health and urge the GEO Group to let Adams County Public Health do their jobs to investigate this alleged outbreak, including providing any necessary testing and treatment to prevent disease spread. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stands ready to provide any support needed to protect public health.”
On Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, who represents Aurora, said Colorado health authorities have oversight, but “GEO and ICE are refusing to allow those health authorities access to the facility.”
