AURORA | Medical neglect and mistreatment by staff are the top two concerns for people being detained at the ICE detention facility in Aurora, according to a new accountability report from the Shut Down GEO Aurora Coalition.

The coalition released its report this week, which compiled 56 complaints made by 49 people who were detained at the facility, which is operated by the GEO Group. The top three issues cited in the complaints were denial of medical care, unprofessional or abusive conduct from staff and poor food quality.

Brandon Gehrke, an organizer with Aurora Unidos, highlighted one story where a person in a cell with eight others got sick and was denied medical care, so the entire cell ended up falling ill.

“You can see how the lack of response for medical emergencies can actually cause spread inside the facility because they aren’t being provided masks or treated in a timely manner,” Gehrke said. “Other things that we see are racial discrimination and staff misconduct.”

Complaints included allegations that officers called Latinos “undesirable,” denied people privacy in bathrooms and restricted access to cleaning supplies.

“These are just a couple of potent examples of the treatment of our loved ones inside and how they are not being treated like human beings, whether that is medical neglect or the simple idea of having privacy while you bathe or use the toilet,” said Anna Rose Craig, an organizer with the American Friends Service Committee.

Members of Aurora Unidos CSO’s Family Liaison Team received the original complaints, made between December 2025 to January 2026, from people being held at the detention center. The complaints were made through the GEO facility’s formal process, though only five complaints include a response and almost none of them were addressed.

The report was created through a partnership between Aurora Unidos, the Shut Down GEO Aurora Coalition, Casa de Paz, the American Friends Service Committee and the Rocky Mountain Immigration Advocacy Network.

“The purpose of this report is to bring awareness to the actual conditions are like inside this facility and the systems that are in place and give rise to these con ditions because a lot of them have continued to get worse,” Gehrke said. “We want to do everything possible to improve conditions inside this facility.”

The report comes amid an ongoing investigation into a confirmed case of tuberculosis at the facility, which has been hindered by a lack of cooperation from ICE and GEO with state and local health department requests. 

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sued GEO last month in order to compel the facility to work with health officials. GEO has requested the lawsuit move to federal court.

Neither GEO nor Homeland Security officials were immediately available for comment Wednesday night.

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