Sick with ICE: Healthcare at the Aurora ICE Detention Center

Editor’s Note: The journalist for this Yellow Scene Magazine story has been kept anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the reporting. They visited an ICE facility to verify conditions and interview a detainee while maintaining anonymity for safety and journalistic integrity.

According to a Facebook post by Victor Galvan on March 20th, political prisoner and long-time Colorado community member Jeanette Vizguerra told friends and family that she was receiving two pieces of bread, some jam and an apple per day at the Geo ICE Detention Center in Aurora, Colorado. As ICE activity has exponentially increased locally and nationally, this claim raised critical concerns about the physical well-being of detainees, among a litany of concerns about human rights violations. 

Journalists are not permitted in the Geo ICE Center, so with the help of community organizers, I was able to visit with a detainee as a “friend” and further investigate claims. For their safety, the interviewee’s name will be omitted.

Visiting a detainee requires navigating strict scheduling and security protocols. Visitors must bring the detainee’s “A-number,” valid ID, and adhere to strict dress codes. 

After around three hours of delays, intensive security screening, and sitting in a lobby with an American-flag-backdropped picture of Trump looming over it, visitors were ushered into a prison-like visitation booth, complete with white-cast cement walls, fluorescent lights, and shoddy phones to communicate through. My subject is an immigrant who told me they had been detained for over a year at the Aurora ICE Center. Despite willingly submitting themself to detention and deportation, the latter process had been continually delayed, subjecting them to further mistreatment in detention. 

In 2012, my interviewee was diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease, a set of persistent symptoms following Lyme infection. Its clinical recognition remains debated, similar to “Long COVID” following coronavirus infection. According to accredited medical resource LymeDisease.org, “An LDo published survey of over 3,000 patients with chronic Lyme disease found that patients suffer a worse quality of life than most other chronic illnesses, including congestive heart failure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and arthritis. Over 70% of patients with chronic Lyme disease reported fair or poor health.” The interviewee had been able to manage their symptoms to much success before imprisonment, but lack of proper care in the facility allowed the disease to progress to a debilitating degree.  

Considering that proper nutrition is central to treating Lyme Disease Persistent Symptoms (LDPS), my interviewee had a keen investment in the claims I was investigating. Since the visitation with Jeanette Vizguerra in March, ostensibly, the meals have improved for the wider detainee population in the GEO ICE Center. It was reported that three meals a day are served, typically consisting of a silver-dollar-sized portion of salad, small portions of beans (or other protein), rice, potato, cornbread, and fruit. Multiple doctors in the past advised that this detainee cut out gluten and sugar from their diet, so they are generally restricted to salad, beans, and rice.  

A STOP sign bearing a “fascism” sticker stands outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Aurora, Colorado, photographed by unnamed journalist.

“It isn’t enough food to ever feel full from,” they told me. “I will often eat the food they give me, even if I’m not supposed to for my health, just because I’m so hungry.”  Whether all detainees, including political prisoners or those under punishment, receive similar meals is unclear. 

Another troubling aspect of the detainee’s treatment is the handling of their medication. Correct timing and dosing are crucial for treating.  “It’s important that my medications are spread out over the day, especially around meals,” the interviewee told me. “But staff usually give me all the medications at once to save time, which makes me sick.”

Since imprisonment, the subject’s overall health has taken a sharp decline. They report a chronic fatigue, which makes any physical activity next to impossible; trouble focusing, so extreme it prevents them from reading (one of their favorite activities and one of few activities afforded to detainees), and other impairing psychological problems, including schizoaffective symptoms. 

My interviewee’s experience at the Aurora Geo ICE Center illustrates the severe consequences of inadequate care, consequences that are being felt by the tens of thousands of detainees reported across the United States. The need for oversight and accountability for detainees, particularly those with chronic and medically complex conditions, is incredibly urgent. If GEO and ICE continue to operate with little transparency and no meaningful accountability, it is likely that Aurora and the nation will continue to see worsening reports of abuse, neglect, and death in these facilities. Organizations such as CO Stands Together and many others are advocating for such transparency and accountability from Geo and Colorado leaders. Such organizations are also providing a wealth of opportunities for Colorado residents to stay informed and get involved, such as attending the weekly vigil in honor of Jeanette Vizguerra held at the Aurora ICE center, supporting detainees with donations for commissary, and much more.