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ICE detainee tests positive for drug-resistant tuberculosis in Louisiana. The state is suing.
BY ALYSE PFEIL AND EMILY WOODRUFF | Staff writers 15 hrs ago
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill last week sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after a Chinese national who entered the country illegally earlier this year was found in October to have tuberculosis while at a federal detention center in Basile.
The lawsuit, which names several defendants including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ICE detention facilities in Louisiana, asks a federal court to bar the facilities from releasing detainees until they've been medically cleared by the Louisiana Department of Health.
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According to the lawsuit, the person in question crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and was detained by federal authorities in California in July.
The detainee, whose identity is redacted in court filings, was flown with over 100 others to Alexandria and then taken to the Richwood Correction Center in Monroe.
The person received a positive skin test for TB on July 23 and then "received a chest x-ray that was noted to be suspicious for active TB."
Three days later, the person was transported to the Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, and in August was "released into general population" at that facility, where "approximately 174" detainees were "potentially exposed."
On Oct. 9, after hospitalization and isolation for active TB, the state health department confirmed the person had a "rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis," a state court filing said.
Louisiana Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham, who was at the Wednesday news conference alongside Landry, said today the patient is in isolation and receiving "proper medication" and is now asymptomatic.
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Louisiana wants to keep tuberculosis-exposed ICE detainees locked up to reduce risk
BY: PIPER HUTCHINSON - OCTOBER 23, 2024 5:08 PM
Attorney General Liz Murrill is suing the federal government to keep people at two detention facilities in Louisiana locked up beyond the period they can be held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody because some detainees might have been exposed to a rare form of tuberculosis.
State officials confirmed Wednesday that one detainee has tested positive for a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis that is not common in the United States. The woman, identified in the lawsuit only as “patient zero” is a Chinese national that does not have legal status to be in the United States.
The woman has potentially exposed more than 200 other detainees at ICE-contracted facilities in Monroe and Basile, according to the lawsuit.
No one else held at the centers has tested positive for tuberculosis, state officials said.
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According to the lawsuit, the state requests that ICE comply with a directive from Abraham that detainees at the facility remain isolated until “medically cleared” — a term not defined in the lawsuit.
“Medical clearance just means there’s a safe plan to move the patient without risk of further exposure. This is an individualized determination based on a number of factors and the specific details of each case,” Emma Herrock, communications director at LDH, said in a statement to the Illuminator.
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Louisiana law allows people to be quarantined for tuberculosis, but only for someone who is confirmed to have the disease and doesn’t comply with their treatment.
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BY ALYSE PFEIL AND EMILY WOODRUFF | Staff writers 15 hrs ago
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill last week sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after a Chinese national who entered the country illegally earlier this year was found in October to have tuberculosis while at a federal detention center in Basile.
The lawsuit, which names several defendants including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ICE detention facilities in Louisiana, asks a federal court to bar the facilities from releasing detainees until they've been medically cleared by the Louisiana Department of Health.
...
According to the lawsuit, the person in question crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and was detained by federal authorities in California in July.
The detainee, whose identity is redacted in court filings, was flown with over 100 others to Alexandria and then taken to the Richwood Correction Center in Monroe.
The person received a positive skin test for TB on July 23 and then "received a chest x-ray that was noted to be suspicious for active TB."
Three days later, the person was transported to the Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, and in August was "released into general population" at that facility, where "approximately 174" detainees were "potentially exposed."
On Oct. 9, after hospitalization and isolation for active TB, the state health department confirmed the person had a "rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis," a state court filing said.
Louisiana Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham, who was at the Wednesday news conference alongside Landry, said today the patient is in isolation and receiving "proper medication" and is now asymptomatic.
...
-------------------------------------------------
Louisiana wants to keep tuberculosis-exposed ICE detainees locked up to reduce risk
BY: PIPER HUTCHINSON - OCTOBER 23, 2024 5:08 PM
Attorney General Liz Murrill is suing the federal government to keep people at two detention facilities in Louisiana locked up beyond the period they can be held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody because some detainees might have been exposed to a rare form of tuberculosis.
State officials confirmed Wednesday that one detainee has tested positive for a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis that is not common in the United States. The woman, identified in the lawsuit only as “patient zero” is a Chinese national that does not have legal status to be in the United States.
The woman has potentially exposed more than 200 other detainees at ICE-contracted facilities in Monroe and Basile, according to the lawsuit.
No one else held at the centers has tested positive for tuberculosis, state officials said.
...
According to the lawsuit, the state requests that ICE comply with a directive from Abraham that detainees at the facility remain isolated until “medically cleared” — a term not defined in the lawsuit.
“Medical clearance just means there’s a safe plan to move the patient without risk of further exposure. This is an individualized determination based on a number of factors and the specific details of each case,” Emma Herrock, communications director at LDH, said in a statement to the Illuminator.
...
Louisiana law allows people to be quarantined for tuberculosis, but only for someone who is confirmed to have the disease and doesn’t comply with their treatment.
...