A tuberculosis outbreak sprEADing through an immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, has left at least 12 people infected and dozens more confined to quarantine, according to accounts from inside the privately run ICE processing center, which is managed by Florida-based Geo Group under a federal contract.
The scale of the outbreak became clearer after all 88 residents of one housing pod were tested last Saturday. A Mexican man in his 30s held at the facility told the Guardian — speaking by phone through his partner — that a single confirmed case just three days prior had multiplied to 12 by the time testing was completed. Rather than isolating those who tested positive, he said, staff kept infected and healthy detainees together, instructing the entire pod to remain under quarantine for no less than a week.
Compounding the situation, the pod's air conditioning failed on Sunday. Fans were handed out as a substitute, even as Aurora recorded an outdoor temperature of 96F (36C) under an active heat advisory Monday afternoon. The man described conditions as "uncomfortable," though he noted that some detainees were being given medication twice daily.
His partner — a U.S. citizen living in south Florida — told the Guardian the deteriorating situation was a source of mounting anxiety. The detainee has pre-existing health conditions and was "very scared, very worried" when the infections first emerged, his partner said. Frustrated by the broken cooling system, the partner drew a pointed comparison: as someone who manages restaurants, he said he could have air conditioning repaired within 24 to 48 hours, and questioned why a corporation worth millions could not do the same. Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor Geo Group responded to a request for comment or confirmation.
This is not the first time disease has swept through the Aurora facility. A lawsuit brought by several Democratic lawmakers seeking greater transparency from the Trump administration over illness and deaths in federal detention cited what appeared to be a separate TB outbreak at the same jail in April of last year. Among the plaintiffs is Representative Jason Crow, the Aurora-area Democrat, whose office has logged more than 90 oversight visits to the facility since 2019. "For-profit prisons have perpetuated ICE's lawlessness and endangered our communities," Crow said in a statement to the Guardian. "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."
Geo Group itself has faced a string of legal challenges over what critics describe as "inhumane and unsanitary conditions" at facilities it operates. Most recently, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed suit last month seeking to compel the company to grant officials from the state's department of health access to the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, where detainees launched a hunger strike over visitation restrictions, living conditions, and what they characterized as inadequate medical attention from Geo Group staff and contractors. The company, whose ties to Trump administration figures were detailed in a May report, maintains on its website that its Aurora facility offers "around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation," and that "health care staffing at GEO's ICE Processing Center is more than double that of many states' correctional facilities."
This article is based solely on information reported by the Guardian. No additional facts have been introduced.