Detainees quarantined without AC in 96-degree heat
A tuberculosis outbreak at a federal immigration jail in Aurora, Colorado, has sickened at least 12 detainees, according to a detailed account from inside the facility where dozens of others have been placed in quarantine and are being held without working air conditioning as temperatures topped 90 degrees.
The detainee, a Mexican national in his 30s whose name the Guardian is withholding for fear of retribution by guards, said all 88 people in his detention pod were tested on Saturday after a single case of active tuberculosis was identified. Twelve tests came back positive, up from one case three days earlier, he said. Instead of separating those who tested positive from those who did not, guards kept them together, and the entire group was told they must remain in quarantine for at least a week, according to the detainee.
The pod’s air conditioning broke down on Sunday, the detainee said. Staff distributed electric fans. On Monday, Aurora was under a heat advisory with the outside temperature at 96 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius).
The detainee described the situation inside as “uncomfortable” but said he had seen some fellow detainees receiving medication in the mornings and afternoons. His long-term partner, a U.S. citizen in south Florida whose identity the Guardian is also withholding, said the worsening conditions were causing anxiety.
“I don’t know if they understand the severity of what TB is,” the partner said. “Obviously it’s not a good thing, and he has some other underlying health conditions which are a concern for us. The first day he was very scared, very worried.”
The partner questioned why the broken air conditioning had not been repaired quickly.
“I don’t understand what the hold up is. I manage restaurants and if they lose AC we get it fixed inside 24 or 48 hours,” the partner said. “I don’t know why a multimillion dollar corporation can’t get an air conditioning technician out there.”
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor GEO Group, the Florida-based private company that operates the Aurora ICE Processing Center under government contract, responded to requests for comment. It is not known how many people are held at the facility, which has a published capacity of 1,532. The detainee said he was unaware if any other pods had been tested or returned positive results.
The outbreak follows a previous apparent TB outbreak at the same facility in April 2025, according to a lawsuit filed by a group of Democratic lawmakers seeking greater transparency from the Trump administration over deaths and disease in federal detention facilities. The facility housed 1,249 detainees as recently as March.
Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat who represents Aurora, said his office has conducted 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. “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, which a report published in May found has close ties to members of the Trump administration, has faced lawsuits over conditions at facilities it operates. Last month, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport sued to force the company to allow state health officials into the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, where detainees staged a hunger strike over visitation, conditions, and what they said was a lack of medical care provided by GEO Group staff and contractors.
On its website, GEO Group said it provides “around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation” at its Aurora facility, and that health care staffing at the center is more than double that of many state correctional facilities.