Seven potential cases of tuberculosis have been reported at the federal immigrant detention center in Tacoma.
But state health officials don’t believe the serious and highly contagious bacterial infection has been transmitted within the facility, and no one has tested positive for infectious tuberculosis, which can spread between people. None of the seven patients have “known connections” to one another, according to a state Department of Health spokesperson.
The state only receives information if people start treatment for presumptive tuberculosis or when lab reports are positive for the potentially fatal lung infection.
“The facility is only required to report known or suspected cases of Tb disease to DOH, so we do not have information about the total number of detainees or the total number of people tested for Tb,” spokesperson John Doyle said in an email Tuesday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The potential infections, first reported by KING 5, add to heightened concerns about conditions at the Northwest ICE Processing Center.
The facility, run by the Florida-based GEO Group, already faced concerns of overcrowding that advocates worry could exacerbate medical issues and restrict access to care as President Donald Trump implements his hard-line immigration agenda.
And for years, the site has drawn scrutiny for allegations of detainee mistreatment, abuse, and neglect.
People held there have long demanded access to improved medical care.
Immigrant advocacy organization La Resistencia started receiving concerned calls from detainees about sick people in the detention center early last week, said Rufina Reyes, the group’s director.
“We are really worried about this because of all the people inside,” Reyes said. “They don’t have any care inside.”
ICE and GEO have maintained the center follows federal standards and have expressed their commitment to respecting the rights of detainees.
Two detainees reportedly died at the facility last year, one of natural causes after years in solitary confinement, and another who was suffering from fentanyl withdrawal.
State lawmakers have sought greater transparency at the for-profit detention center, but those efforts have landed in court amid challenges from The GEO Group.
A new state law passed this year aims to allow the state Department of Health to inspect the facility. The law, which took effect in May, also tasks the agency with setting new state standards on medical care and sanitation.
The detention center has continued to refuse to let state health inspectors inside, Doyle said.
“We are hopeful that the federal courts will soon clarify the Department’s authority, allowing us to conduct investigations that promote transparency and protect the health and well-being of everyone inside the facility,” he added.
The 1,575-bed detention center was holding just under 1,500 people, as of July 21, according to Detention Reports, a new tool developed by researchers analyzing ICE data in hopes of better reflecting the total detained population.
Since Trump retook office and prioritized a campaign of mass deportation, the total number of detainees at the facility has grown. But the latest total was down from more than 1,500 in the previous count.
The average length of stay was just over two months, according to Detention Reports.
Multiple detainees suspected of having tuberculosis were among the roughly three dozen transferred from ICE custody to a prison in Alaska this summer, according to the American Civil Liberties Union’s chapter in Alaska.
ICE told the detainees upon their return to Washington at the end of June that they were exposed to tuberculosis while in Alaska, according to the ACLU. They’d been moved due to a lack of space at the Tacoma site, officials said at the time.
The transferred detainee with tuberculosis was reportedly hospitalized in Tacoma. The person’s attorney discovered the hospitalization after his client missed two scheduled video appointments from the detention center. The attorney found his client by calling Tacoma-area hospitals.
Attorneys from the ACLU in Alaska say two ICE detainees told them they had tested positive for non-contagious latent tuberculosis. The ACLU questioned whether the Alaska correctional facility conducted appropriate medical screenings when the detainees arrived in early June.
In May, the organization sued the Alaska Department of Corrections over allegations of inadequate medical care.
