Detainees in multiple U.S. immigration detention facilities have tested positive for tuberculosis, and at least one detainee died shortly after diagnosis. Reports identify cases at facilities in Alaska, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Washington, with exposures and hospitalizations noted. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and breakdowns in health protocols in detention settings contribute to spread and risk development of drug-resistant strains. Tuberculosis in detention poses a risk to the broader community if infected individuals leave custody while contagious. Improving infection control and healthcare in carceral settings reduces transmission both inside facilities and in the community.
Detainees have tested positive for tuberculosis at the Anchorage Correctional Complex in Alaska and Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, according to news reports. One immigrant died days after a diagnosis of the disease in the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, an ICE death notice shows. Detainees may have been exposed at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, according to a lawsuit.
The same conditions that allowed the disease to flourish at the end of the 1800s are hallmarks of immigration detention, medical experts and immigration advocates told the Prospect, including overcrowding, poor sanitation, and a breakdown of health protocols. Tuberculosis outbreaks can allow the disease to become more resistant to treatment, one of the major global concerns about the massive outbreaks in post-Soviet Russia.
Collection
[
|
...
]