Health crisis deepens at U.S. immigration detention facilities as illnesses spread

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. health officials are investigating reports of widespread illness at a near-capacity immigration detention facility in Aurora, a city in the U.S. state of Colorado that lies partly in Adams County, after immigrant-rights advocates alleged that a largely untreated outbreak had swept through the center.

A spokeswoman for the Adams County Health Department, Jennifer Lucero-Alvarez, was quoted by the Denver Post recently as saying that health officials had "received multiple reports about possible gastrointestinal and respiratory illness" at the facility.

Lucero-Alvarez declined to provide additional information about the current health conditions in the facility and how many of the facility's detainees are sick.

The Denver Contract Detention Facility (Aurora) reported multiple cases of influenza early this month, U.S. Representative Jason Crow's office confirmed the news, though U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have not disclosed how many people are affected.

ICE is the federal agency responsible for detaining immigrants awaiting deportation hearings or removal from the country.

The 1,532-bed Aurora facility is operated by GEO Group, a private corporation that manages detention centers under contract with the U.S. federal government. The facility has a documented history of failing to contain contagious diseases dating back years.

In February 2020, ICE inspections found 68 people quarantined with flu and 70 with mumps at the Aurora center, according to a ProPublica investigation. The facility experienced three separate outbreaks in four months during 2019, including mumps and chickenpox.

Beyond infectious diseases, the Aurora facility has faced multiple complaints about inadequate medical care.

A 2024 report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) documented cases of medical incompetence, dental neglect, and inadequate mental healthcare, which contributed to at least two deaths at the facility. In one case, staff abruptly cut a detainee off his medication, relied on incorrect medical protocols and believed that he was faking his symptoms -- including a seizure -- prior to his death.

The outbreak in Aurora is not an isolated incident within ICE's detention system.

A study by the University of California, San Francisco, which was published in the JAMA medical journal, found that 17 out of 22 ICE detention centers experienced sustained outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses between January 2017 and March 2020. One facility had a chickenpox outbreak lasting 33 months and year-round influenza transmission.

In December 2025, the Golden State Annex Facility in McFarland, California, experienced an outbreak of scabies, a highly contagious skin condition caused by mites that can spread rapidly in crowded settings. The Kern County Public Health Department confirmed several cases and said it was working with the facility's medical staff to prevent further transmission.

The Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, confirmed seven suspected tuberculosis cases in July 2025. One detainee was hospitalized with active TB after being transferred from the Anchorage Correctional Complex to Tacoma.

As of January 2025, 86 percent of ICE detainees were held in facilities run by for-profit companies, according to immigration tracking data. This represents an increase from 81 percent in January 2020. Two corporations -- the GEO Group and CoreCivic -- dominate the market. In 2022 alone, the GEO Group made 1.05 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from ICE contracts.

Government inspectors have found barbaric and negligent treatment in ICE detention facilities. According to a 2023 National Public Radio report, expert inspectors documented negligent medical care, unsafe and filthy conditions and racist abuse of detainees. One inspector noted that violations found at a GEO Group facility were so severe that if discovered in a hospital, it could be forced to shut down.

On Jan. 12, the Aurora City Council passed a resolution condemning ICE operations, citing the Minneapolis fatal shooting, an unmanaged illness outbreak at the GEO ICE detention facility and other ICE overreach cases in the city.

Representative Crow filed a lawsuit in the week of Jan. 11 against the Trump administration, alleging that officials had blocked congressional oversight of immigration detention facilities, including the one in Aurora.