TB Outbreak at Aurora ICE Detention Center

In early July 2026, 12 of the 88 detainees in a single “pod” at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in Aurora, Colorado, tested positive for active tuberculosis. The cases rose from one three days earlier after mass testing was conducted on a Saturday. Detainees were ordered to remain in quarantine for at least a week, but the pod’s air-conditioning failed on Sunday and staff provided only electric fans despite a heat advisory with temperatures reaching 96 °F (36 °C). The facility, operated by the private firm Geo Group under a federal contract, has a published capacity of 1,532 detainees; the exact current population is unknown.

The Guardian

This is the latest health incident at the Aurora center. An earlier TB outbreak was reported in April 2025, prompting a lawsuit by Democratic lawmakers seeking transparency about disease and deaths in federal detention facilities. Representative Jason Crow (D-Aurora) has maintained an online database of oversight visits and, as of March 2026, reported that the center housed 1,249 detainees. Since 2019, Crow or his staff have conducted more than 90 oversight visits. Geo Group has faced multiple lawsuits alleging “inhumane and unsanitary conditions” at its facilities, including a recent suit by New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport to allow state health officials into the Delaney Hall ICE center in Newark.

The Guardian

• Representative Crow said, “For-profit prisons have perpetuated ICE’s lawlessness and endangered our communities,” adding, “I’ve led the charge to end this broken and humane system. Until we do, I’ll continue to conduct oversight to hold ICE accountable.”

The Guardian

• Geo Group’s website asserts that the Aurora center provides “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.”

The Guardian

• The Department of Homeland Security and Geo Group did not respond to requests for comment.

The Guardian

Detractors highlight the juxtaposition of a severe airborne disease with inadequate climate control. A detainee’s partner, who declined to be named, expressed alarm that “they don’t understand the severity of what TB is” and noted the detainee’s underlying health conditions. An unnamed restaurant manager criticized the response, stating, “Their focus is more associated with having no air conditioning… I don’t know why a multimillion-dollar corporation can’t get an air-conditioning technician out there.”

The Guardian

• “I don’t know if they understand the severity of what TB is,” — Detainee’s partner, unnamed

The Guardian

• “Their focus is more associated with having no air conditioning. 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. I don’t know why a multimillion-dollar corporation can’t get an air conditioning technician out there.” — Unnamed restaurant manager

The Guardian

• “For-profit prisons have perpetuated ICE’s lawlessness and endangered our communities,” — Rep. Jason Crow, D-Aurora

The Guardian

• “around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation” — Geo Group website statement

The Guardian