Six weeks after local officials issued a public health order concerning a confirmed active case of tuberculosis at an immigration detention center in Aurora, the private company that runs the facility still has not allowed access for health officials to complete a legally-required investigation.

The result is a standoff between state and local government and a company unwilling to cooperate.

On Monday, community advocates once again called for more pressure from the state government, issuing their own “people’s public health order” at the Colorado Capitol, steps from Governor Jared Polis’ office.

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“We are here to demand that the state health department and the governor’s office do everything in their power, including issuing a state public health order, to hold the GEO Group accountable for their wrongdoing,” Maureen Daly, a retired pediatrician, said.

The GEO Group runs the detention facility for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a federal contractor.

Advocates, including Daly, worry that state agencies have not pushed harder against GEO’s obstruction out of fear of litigation. GEO is already suing the state over a new law that gives the state increased health and safety inspection authority.

“I don’t think what The GEO Group will do or will not do should have anything to do with this public health decision,” Daly said. “This should be about protecting the health of the people of Colorado.”

The symbolic people’s order, referring to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, states that the “inaction and lack of urgency from the Governor’s office and CDPHE have lost our trust.”

It’s an unprecedented situation to have a federal contractor not respond to a public health order.

– Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

It demands access to the facility so health officials can complete a proper investigation into the confirmed tuberculosis case and potential spread of the disease. Community members signed an oversized printout of the order in front of the Capitol. An online version also allows people to endorse it. It states that people recently released from the facility have reported people testing positive for tuberculosis through a skin test.

In various statements to reporters, ICE contends that the infected person was “treated, cleared, and removed from the country” and that there are no other cases in the detention center. GEO determined that 61 people were exposed to the original case and placed in a “precautionary cohort,” according to an oversight report last month from Representative Jason Crow’s office.

State ‘shut out’

Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the executive director of the CDPHE, listened to speakers and spoke with rally attendees on Monday for about 15 minutes.

“I appreciate the advocates,” she said. “I appreciate what they’re doing today and I understand why they’re concerned.”

Ryan said CDPHE used to have a “collegial” relationship with GEO and could enter the facility to inspect and help with disease control. That changed about six months ago, when she said the company began to “shut out” the state.

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“We’ve started with the communication route. We used to work together, so we asked our federal partners … to implore them to work with us again. If that doesn’t work, nothing’s off the table,” she said. “It’s an unprecedented situation to have a federal contractor not respond to a public health order.”

CDPHE set a deadline for GEO to comply with Adam County’s public health order by July 17, but that date passed without consequence. Ryan said that a CDPHE-issued public health order would carry the same authority, and she’s unsure it would force compliance. It would, however, have the enforcement weight of the attorney general’s office behind it.

While speaking with Ryan, community members told her the state should start levying fines on GEO, questioned “where the dam breaks” on the issue, and said they will continue putting pressure on the state until there is a CDPHE public health order.

“If we don’t hold the line on this, what is going to make our government act?” said Andrea Loya, the executive director of Casa de Paz, which supports people recently released from the GEO detention center. “If (tuberculosis) isn’t enough, what will be?”

In a statement, Polis spokesperson Ally Sullivan said the governor’s office is “actively monitoring the situation” and has repeatedly requested information from GEO. She did not answer a question about whether the state worries about possible litigation over a second public health order.

“The state is considering next steps including the option of a public health order should it be necessary,” she wrote. “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.”