GEO Group, the company that operates the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Aurora, argued in a court hearing Friday that a state law requiring health inspections is unconstitutional. 

Judge Daniel Domenico said a decision on whether the requirement should be halted immediately, as requested by GEO Friday, will come at a later date.

The hearing took place amid tension between the Adams County Health Department and GEO. County officials said the prison continues to block an investigation into a tuberculosis case.

GEO filed the lawsuit in early June to block the enforcement of House Bill 26-1276, which expanded the state health department’s authority to conduct more frequent health and safety inspections at immigration detention facilities in the state and impose fines or even revoke licenses for refusing inspections.

The new law says that a facility refusing to allow the inspections is subject to a civil penalty.

In court Friday, GEO attorney Frederick Yarger argued that the bill burdens federal operations, discriminates against the federal government since it only applies to the ICE facility in Aurora and causes harm to GEO financially and contractually.

The bill forces GEO to break its contract with the federal government by following state law, Yarger said. Since the law could not apply directly to the federal government, it cannot apply to the government’s contractor, he said.

“They know they can’t sue ICE, so they’re trying to sue us instead,” Yarger said. “They’re trying to pry apart the relationship between the GEO Group and ICE.”

Attorneys for the state said the GEO facility has allowed health inspections in previous years. GEO is a private for-profit corporation, and it can’t exempt itself from state and local health inspections, they said. The attorneys also argued that GEO is not facing discrimination as a federal facility because the health inspection laws also apply to other state detention centers.

Gabe Podesta, one of the state’s attorneys, added that the state has a responsibility to keep its residents safe.

The Adams County Health Department has been denied access to the facility since the tuberculosis case was confirmed. County officials said they requested necessary information and GEO did not provide it. The county then issued a public health order in late June requiring compliance.

As of Friday, GEO had not given the health department access or adequate information to conduct an investigation into the case and the possibility of other cases, county officials said.

Colorado law states that local public health agencies are required to investigate every confirmed tuberculosis case, a process that includes a patient interview, medical record review, contact identification and notification, testing, treatment and follow-up.

GEO’s lawsuit listed Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser as the plaintiff, along with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan, the department’s environmental health and sustainability director, Jeff Lawrence, and Adams County Health Department Executive Director Kelly Weidenbach.