Kilmer turned away from Tacoma prison visit by chicken pox outbreak

The Associated Press

TACOMA — A U.S. congressman said he was turned away from trying to meet with detainees from the southern border crisis because of a chicken pox outbreak at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

The Tacoma News Tribune reported that U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, a Democrat, went to the prison Saturday after hearing that a number of migrants who were separated from their children after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border were transferred there from another federal prison in SeaTac.

Kilmer said he had an official tour set up at the Tacoma facility, but it was canceled due to protest-related safety concerns.

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And when the congressman tried to visit three detainees during the regularly scheduled visiting hours Saturday, he was told that they were all quarantined due to chicken pox exposure.

Kilmer spokesman Tim Biba told the Peninsula Daily News on Monday that Kilmer has been confirmed to tour the Tacoma facility Friday.

Kilmer represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula.

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