Secretary of Homeland Security visits Colorado, disputes concerns about tuberculosis at Aurora ICE facility

A visit to Colorado this week by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin largely flew under the radar. Mullin visited Colorado's supermax prison, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center and Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in southern Colorado before holding a private meeting with Rep. Gabe Evans, a Republican who represents Colorado's 8th Congressional District, and Hispanic faith leaders.

Mullin said on Friday he wanted to address what he called "false rumors" about immigration enforcement.

"Being able to talk to faith leaders who can talk to their congregation about the actual facts instead of what they say online, I think they were very thankful," Mullin said.

CBS Colorado caught up with the Homeland Security Secretary after the meeting to ask, among other things, whether the agency has shifted away from targeting what it has described as "the worst of the worst."

"When we are serving a warrant on someone that does have a criminal background, they are usually around other people that have no status," Mullin said. "Those individuals are still here illegally. We don't make the laws. We enforce the laws through DHS."

However, CBS News data reviewing ICE detainee data indicates that roughly three out of four people detained in Colorado do not have a criminal conviction.

Mullin's visit comes at a time when concerns are surrounding restrictions on access to the ICE detention facility in Aurora. Adams County health officials say they have been denied entry to the facility and access to information needed to properly investigate a confirmed tuberculosis case. They also say a federal lawsuit filed by GEO Group, the private prison and detention company that operates the facility, has hindered their ability to enforce a public health order.

County officials discussed the dispute during a meeting Friday.

"Many of us, all of us, have had challenging facilities, whether publicly owned or privately owned," Adams County health official Kelly Weidenbach said. "But I can say this is the first situation that I have personally experienced where we have not been able to garner that voluntary cooperation."

Mullin disputed concerns about tuberculosis at the facility.

"There's no tuberculosis cases right now," Mullin said. "There was one case when we were checking them in that had signs of it. That person is no longer in the facility."

In a previous statement to CBS Colorado, DHS said the detention facility has complied with federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and policies on communicable diseases, as well as Colorado laws, guidelines and policies.

"There was one case of TB on June 25, and the detainee was treated, cleared, and removed from the country," the department said.