TACOMA, WA – Seven potential cases of tuberculosis have been reported at the federal immigrant detention center in Tacoma, state health officials said Tuesday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday morning disputed that the disease was present at the facility and said that the reports stem from one individual who refused a tuberculosis test, and six other detainees who were exposed to them.

But an attorney for a man detained at the site said his client was treated for tuberculosis at a hospital in Tacoma last month.

Washington Department of Health officials said they don’t believe the serious and highly contagious bacterial infection has been transmitted within the detention center, 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 spokesperson for the department.

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.

In response to questions about tuberculosis cases at the Northwest ICE Processing Center, an ICE spokesperson said, “This false claim needs to stop.”

“A detainee entered the facility, refused a tuberculosis test, and as a result, is required to be medically isolated until medical staff is certain he is not infectious,” they said in an email on Wednesday. “Six other aliens entered the facility at the same time and were also cohorted as an extra precaution.”

“An alien has the right to refuse medical care, and ICE has the right to ensure the alien does not potentially spread a disease if they begin showing symptoms,” the ICE spokesperson added.

The potential infections, first reported by KING 5, add to heightened scrutiny about conditions at the Northwest ICE Processing Center.

The facility, run by the Florida-based GEO Group, has already raised concerns among advocates who worry overcrowding 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 faced allegations of detainee mistreatment, abuse, and neglect.

People held there have long demanded access to improved medical care.

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.

A 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.

“Our client was diagnosed with tuberculosis and placed on ‘RIPE’ treatment on the Fourth of July,” said Sean Quirk, with the law firm Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick. “RIPE refers to the first-line Tb treatment of rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol. His TB treatment started four days after his return from Alaska — where he had been held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex — on June 30.”

“While Tacoma General Hospital found that he didn’t exhibit signs of ‘active tuberculosis,’ he remains on RIPE treatment and has been informed by medical staff at the Northwest ICE Processing Center that he needs to remain so for approximately six months,” Quirk added. “An NWIPC x-ray apparently showed ‘spots’ on his lungs.”

Quirk said his client is now “doing okay and receiving care.”

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.

Immigrant advocacy organization La Resistencia started receiving concerned calls from detainees about sick people in the Tacoma 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.

This story has been updated with comments from ICE and an attorney representing a detainee at the Northwest ICE Processing Center.

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