Washington — The U.S. military on Tuesday announced it would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to use a base to detain unauthorized immigrants in an area in Colorado expected to be at the center of upcoming immigration arrest operations.
The Department of Defense said it approved a request from ICE for facilities inside the Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, to be converted into temporary staging and detention sites for migrants in the U.S. illegally who are facing deportation.
In a statement to CBS News, a Department of Defense spokesperson said the base is expected to house migrants with criminal records arrested during “an operation taking place in Colorado.” ICE officials and other law enforcement authorities — and not military personnel — will administer the migrant detainee facilities, the spokesperson added.
“ICE requirements for the facility include a temporary operations center, staging area, and a temporary holding location for the receiving, holding, and processing of illegal aliens,” the spokesperson said.
The move is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to vastly expand the role the military plays in border and immigration enforcement. Through an emergency declaration, President Trump has deployed an additional 1,500 Army soldiers and Marines to the southern border, with instructions to erect barriers and assist Customs and Border Protection officials.
Under federal law dating back to the Reconstruction Era, the military is generally barred from engaging in civilian law enforcement, which would include processing migrants.
The Trump administration has also directed the Pentagon to use military planes to deport migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully. On Tuesday, a U.S. military plane deported dozens of migrants to Ecuador. Last week, the U.S. used military aircraft to carry out deportations to Guatemala.
The military’s role in Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown could expand further. An internal CBP memo obtained by CBS News indicates the administration has considered sending as many as 10,000 troops to the southern border and using more military installations for migrant detention.
The decision to use a Space Force base in Aurora to hold unauthorized migrants is also noteworthy given the expected ramp-up in ICE activity in and near that Denver suburb.
Two U.S. officials told CBS News Tuesday that the Denver area is among the next targets for the stepped-up immigration arrest operations that ICE has been conducting under the Trump administration.
During Mr. Trump’s early days in office, ICE has increased arrest operations across the country, targeting unauthorized immigrants with criminal records and those who had been issued deportation orders. But others in the U.S. illegally have also been swept up in the operations, since Biden-era limits on immigration enforcement have been revoked.
Large ICE operations have already been conducted in Chicago and New York City, and the agency is expected to do the same in the Denver-area communities like Aurora, which the president frequently cited on the campaign trail when vowing to crack down on illegal immigration. The Colorado city gained national attention over concerns about the presence of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.
What will happen to Tren de Aragua members who are arrested is unclear, as Venezuela currently rejects U.S. deportations. However, CBS News reported Sunday that the Trump administration is considering an agreement with El Salvador that would allow the U.S. to deport suspected Tren de Aragua gangsters to that small Central American country, which has overseen a mass incarceration effort against gangs.
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