Two cases of mumps and a case of chickenpox at Aurora’s immigration detention facility — the latest in a string of outbreaks at the center — have forced 142 detainees into isolation.
As of noon Friday, two pods at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility were affected, according to a local ICE spokesperson. The mumps cases were both in one pod, and the chickenpox in a second. All detainees have been given a measles and mumps vaccine, ICE says.
“We have one confirmed case of mumps, one probable case of mumps — pending more testing results — and then one confirmed case of chickenpox,” said Ashley Richter, a communicable disease manager at the Tri-County Health Department, which coordinates with the ICE site.
“We are working with the facility to ensure, number one, that the correct testing and treatment is provided to the patient, as well as correct measures are taken to ensure safety and security of the other inmates and staff there,” Richter explained.
Detainees are removed from the general population — “cohorted” in ICE’s lingo — when they’re exposed to people who have mumps or may have mumps, ICE says. As a result, their movements are restricted for several weeks. Immigration attorneys say legal meetings are then canceled.
“If there are people who have a bond hearing or an other hearing, those hearings will get delayed until the quarantine is lifted, so that they’re able to present themselves in court,” said Esperanza Cuautle at Pangea Legal Services, an immigration law firm. “That prolongs the detention of people who may have a chance to get released.”
ICE says it has made several changes to better screen for diseases, including full medical checkups within two weeks of arrival for all detainees. It blames the spread of diseases on a large influx of immigrants from the southern border who had not previously received medical care.
Aurora’s facility, which is operated by the private company GEO Group, recorded chickenpox outbreaks in October, January and February, along with mumps cases in March. That last outbreak prompted a hunger strike among detainees.
Outbreaks have also been a catalyst for congressional oversight, bringing U.S. Rep. Jason Crow to the facility unannounced in February. Crow, an Aurora Democrat, continues to seek documents from the federal government relating to the outbreaks and subsequent quarantines.
Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, said last weekend that private companies like GEO Group should no longer be allowed to operate ICE facilities. Her call for an end to privatization followed an inspector general’s report on the Aurora detention site.
