Hickenlooper Statement on Detainee Accounts of Tuberculosis Exposure at Aurora ICE Detention Center

DENVER - Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper released the following statement in response to a report by the Denver Post that an entire pod was placed on quarantine after being exposed to tuberculosis (TB) at the Aurora ICE Detention Facility. Neither ICE nor local health officials confirmed the report.

"Public health officials can't stop a TB outbreak they're not allowed to track," said Hickenlooper. "ICE's refusal to follow Colorado law or give members of Congress answers puts lives at risk. They're trying to slow us down, but we won't stop pushing until we get to the bottom of this."

Representatives from Hickenlooper's office visited the detention facility last Friday. ICE officials and medical staff at the facility refused to tell Hickenlooper's staff whether anyone had recently tested positive for TB or been exposed to it. This is the second reported case of tuberculosis at the Aurora ICE Detention Facility in recent months.

In June, Adams County Health Department was notified of a case of suspected TB at the facility, triggering a routine investigation, which was blocked by GEO. ICE later confirmed they had a positive TB case, but refused to allow state health officials to investigate. As a result, last month the state of Colorado sued GEO Group, which operates the Aurora ICE Detention Facility, to force GEO to comply with state law and allow public health officials to perform a full investigation.

The CDC's guidelines for "Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Correctional and Detention Facilities" state that it's "mandatory" for every correctional facility - private, federal, state or local - to report suspected and confirmed cases of TB to its local or state health department.

Hickenlooper visited the Aurora ICE Detention Facility at the end of August to demand answers on the TB outbreak and push ICE to comply with state law. Hickenlooper held meetings with Adams County and state public health officials before and after his oversight visit.

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