DENVER — Immigration rights groups rallied outside the Colorado State Capitol Monday evening, demanding the state take more aggressive action on the stalled tuberculosis investigation at the Aurora ICE detention facility.
The Adams County Health Department (ACHD) said the GEO Group, the company that operates the detention center, refused to allow ACHD inside the Aurora ICE detention facility to complete a state-mandated health investigation following a confirmed tuberculosis case in a detainee in June. ACHD responded by issuing a public health order on June 25 to require the GEO Group to comply with state public health laws surrounding tuberculosis investigations.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) gave the GEO Group a July 17 deadline to grant access to the information needed to complete the health investigation. That deadline came and went without resolution.
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Immigrant rights groups are now calling on the state health department to issue its own public health order, hoping it could lead to action.
"We believe that a state order is necessary so that the Attorney General can act through litigation to get inside the detention center," Maureen Daly, a member of the Shut Down GEO Coalition, said. "GEO is not allowing public health to go in and do the necessary investigation and contact tracing."
Jill Hunsaker Ryan, CDPHE's executive director, showed up outside the Colorado State Capitol Monday to answer questions from protesters and reporters. She said a public health order can compel an organization to give health officials information about who has been exposed to a disease, who may be sick, and help officials with disease control.
When asked whether a state public health order would carry more weight than the county's order, Ryan said the two are not necessarily different because agencies follow the same statutes.
She said the department has prioritized communication with the GEO Group over issuing a formal order, noting a previously cooperative relationship with the facility. Ryan also raised concerns about whether a state order would even produce results, pointing to the county's experience.
"It's a tool that doesn't necessarily guarantee compliance in this situation, as we've seen with Adams County. But nonetheless, we're not taking it off the table," Ryan said. "If we issue a public health order, and they don't respond to it, it's going to take longer to try to compel them to do that."
When asked whether communication with the GEO Group had been successful, Ryan acknowledged it had not.
"We've been communicating with different entities in the federal government. We've tried to communicate with GEO, and we've not had success to date," she said. "This is why we're evaluating this on a daily basis and just weighing what is the best course of action."
When asked whether CDPHE is concerned about potential litigation if it were to issue a state public health order, Ryan did not directly address the question.
"We have been focused on action that will most expeditiously get public health into the facility to be able to interview people, get the information that we need," Ryan said. "We're really focused on what makes the most sense to protect the public's health, and we're looking at this from all angles, including legal, to determine what's the best course of action."
A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General's Office said Phil Weiser has the authority to enforce a state-issued public health order, and that the office "stands ready to work with the Governor's Office and state health leaders to bring GEO into compliance with the law."
In a statement to Denver7, Governor Jared Polis' office said:
“The State is actively monitoring the situation and takes very seriously any claims that patients are not receiving the care needed when experiencing symptoms of illness. The state is considering next steps including the option of a public health order should it be necessary. Since June, the state has requested access to the facility, sent repeated demands for information and transparency to GEO, urged multiple federal agencies to demand GEO give us the information we need, and has coordinated with public health agencies and partners to ensure access to testing following release. GEO asserts there is not an active case or an outbreak at the facility, and we hope that is true, but we lack critical information to ensure that is the case. The state will continue to evaluate the public health risk and is asking GEO to work with Adams County Health or CDPHE to promptly resolve this matter. ”
Dr. Kelly Weidenbach, the executive director of the ACHD, said the question of whether a state order would produce greater compliance is one for CDPHE and the attorney general's office to answer.
"From ACHD's perspective, our goal has always been to obtain the records, information, and access necessary to complete an independent tuberculosis investigation. We continue to believe that a coordinated response is the strongest approach because the legal questions involved extend beyond Adams County and have implications for public health authority across Colorado," Weidenbach said.
Miriam Ordonez-Rodriguez, a member of the American Friends Service Committee, said she remains concerned for detainees inside the facility in Aurora.
"They cannot seek their own healthcare. They depend on GEO to provide that for them," Ordonez-Rodriguez said.
The GEO Group referred Denver7 to ICE for a statement. An ICE spokesperson referred us to a previous statement, saying the facility has complied with all federal CDC guidelines and Colorado law on communicable disease.
