DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — The Douglas County Board of Health voted unanimously on Thursday to extend a public health order requiring health information disclosure from organizations transporting immigrants into the county.
Board members originally voted on the order in December, deciding to extend it Thursday as a precaution, the officials said in a news release.
The order requires that any organization or person bringing immigrants into the county report those peoples' health information to the Douglas County Health Department, with the intention of addressing "potential and actual communicable disease and emergency situations" in the county, according to a statement from officials.
DCHD Executive Director Michael Hill said the order was initially a proactive measure when it was passed in December. While the board does not necessarily foresee an influx of immigrants brought into Douglas County, Hill said extending the health order is still necessary "in the unlikely event that migrants are placed in Douglas County."
The health order states that there is "sufficient cause to believe" that the city and county of Denver has and might continue to house immigrants in facilities outside of the city and said that immigrants are a particularly "vulnerable" population in terms of health concerns.
> Watch video that aired March 18: Leaders in Colorado county prepare challenge to state law preventing it from cooperating with ICE
Since December 2022, nearly 40,000 immigrants — many whom illegally crossed America's southern border — arrived in Denver, a sanctuary city where officials decided earlier in the crisis to provide shelter, feed and transport immigrants to their final destination.
Several jurisdictions surrounding Denver, including Douglas County, have adopted resolutions to distance themselves from the "sanctuary" jurisdiction label.
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