Measles outbreak at Florence ICE facility grows to seven cases

For the second time this year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Florence Detention Center is dealing with a measles outbreak. As a result, advocates say, detainees’ lawyers and even members of Congress have been barred from visiting the facility.

On Tuesday, ICE spokesperson Fernando Burgos confirmed to Phoenix New Times that there are seven active measles cases at the facility, meaning the outbreak — which was first reported last week — has more than doubled in size.

This is the second time an outbreak of measles, which is so contagious that a single positive case is considered an outbreak, has been reported within the facility this year. Another outbreak of at least three cases was reported there in February.

The health department in Pinal County, where the Florence facility is located, declined to comment, deferring to federal authorities who oversee the detention center.

Measles, which spreads through the air, is highly preventable with two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, which is 98% effective. If an unvaccinated individual is exposed to measles, there’s a 90% chance they’ll contract the disease, which can impede the immune system and lead to deadly side effects like pneumonia and encephalitis.

Burgos told New Times that ICE Health Services Corps “immediately took steps to quarantine and control further spread and infection,” which included “ceasing all movement within the facility and quarantining all individuals suspected of making contact with the infected.” The facility is currently locked down with all “non-legal in-person visitation” suspended to “protect the health and safety of the detainees, the staff, and the community,” Burgos wrote. 

However, one advocacy group that works with detainees says access has been curtailed even more than that. Despite Burgos’ contention that “non-legal in-person visitation” has been suspended, Florence Project adult legal program manager Monica Cordero-Vazquez told New Times in an emailed statement that all in-person visits, including ones with detainees’ legal counsel, are currently paused. 

Detainees’ court hearings are also being affected, she said, as staff members aren’t transporting them to court, which could delay immigration proceedings and leave detainees behind bars for longer. While remote options may be available for Florence Project’s attorneys to speak to clients, Cordero-Vazquez said that isn’t always a “viable” option depending on the “client’s circumstances and specific legal work needed.”

“It is unfortunate that we continue to see these concerning developments in the facilities that create health-related risks for the detained individuals and the potential of prolonging their detention in an already difficult environment,” Cordero-Vazquez wrote.

Congressional visits curtailed

Also denied entry in recent days have been two members of Arizona’s congressional delegation. Democratic Reps. Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari each attempted separate oversight visits to Florence in the last six days but were turned away. 

Stanton was turned away from Florence Detention Center on July 2, telling New Times afterward that “at least seven” detainees at Eloy Detention Center had been exposed to measles at the time and had been placed in 21-day quarantine. There was also a sign on the entrance door to the nearby Eloy Detention Center warning people entering the facility that they could be exposed to measles. No positive measles cases have been reported at Eloy. 

“Measles is a real issue with these detention centers,” Stanton said. “And it’s obviously continuing, unfortunately.”

Five days later, Ansari planned to conduct an oversight visit to Florence but was told she couldn’t because of the quarantine. On Wednesday, she told New Times she wasn’t surprised at the news of an outbreak, adding that it’s become a “trend” that ICE uses to refuse congressional oversight and limit detainees’ access to the outside world.

Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who has also made several oversight trips to ICE detention centers, called the outbreak a “predictable outcome of Trump’s mass deportation agenda” that has “fueled dangerous overcrowding” and created conditions for preventable diseases to spread.

Republican Rep. Eli Crane, whose district includes the two detention centers, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the outbreak.

Stanton, Ansasri and Grijalva have previously called attention to what they say is inadequate medical care at ICE’s facilities in Arizona. Cordero-Vazquez said the Florence Project’s clients “often report that they do not receive adequate medical care while detained,” even those with medical conditions and chronic illnesses. 

In his statement, Burgos disputed that, saying detainees “are being provided with proper medical care” and added that “it is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care — including access to vaccines.” 

“This is the best healthcare that many aliens have received in their entire lives,” Burgos wrote. 

Ansari called “bullshit” on that notion, saying that the center’s health conditions are awful and “medical neglect” is “systemic.” Grijalva also slammed the statement, adding that it shows “how willfully blind or blatantly indifferent the agency is to the inhumane conditions right under its nose.”