US Military Grants ICE Access To Colorado Base For…

US Military Grants ICE Access To Colorado Base For Migrant Detention

An undocumented immigrant stands cuffed and shackled at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility May 25, 2010 in Broadview, Illinois. cott Olson/Getty Images) (Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The United States military has decided to let Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) use a base in Colorado to hold unauthorized immigrants, in a move that might lead to the area becoming an important location for upcoming immigration arrests.

The Department of Defense approved ICE's request to use Buckley Space Force Base facilities in Aurora, Colorado, which will be turned into temporary holding and processing centers for migrants, who are in the US illegally and are set to be deported, CBS News reported.

The base will be used to hold migrants with criminal records, who are arrested during an operation in Colorado, as per the Department of Defense spokesperson. ICE officials and other law enforcement officers, not military personnel, will be in charge of managing the migrant detention facilities.

"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.

This decision is part of a larger plan by the Trump administration to increase the military's role in border and immigration enforcement.

Through an emergency order, President Donald Trump has sent 1,500 additional army soldiers and marines to the southern border to help build barriers and assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.

A federal law from the Reconstruction Era generally prevents the military from handling civilian law enforcement, which includes processing migrants. The Trump administration has also ordered the Pentagon to use military planes to deport migrants who entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico.

Earlier this week, a U.S. military plane deported dozens of migrants to Ecuador. Last week, military aircraft were also used for deportations to Guatemala.

The military's involvement in Trump's immigration crackdown could increase even more. A memo from CBP shows that the administration has considered sending up to 10,000 troops to the southern border and using more military bases to detain migrants.

The choice to use a Space Force base in Aurora to hold unauthorized migrants is significant, especially with ICE expected to increase its operations in and around that part of Denver.

Last week, Senator Katie Britt from Alabama revealed that ICE officers arrested 308 individuals living in the country illegally. The arrests occurred a day after Trump's first full day in office.

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