The U.S. military has approved the use of a Space Force base in Aurora, Colorado, as a staging area for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain and process "criminal aliens" for an upcoming operation.
The statement from U.S. Northern Command comes amid a CBS News report that Denver is among the next targets of ICE in its ongoing crackdown of illegal immigration and the removal of violent criminals.
"USNORTHCOM is providing facilities at Buckley Space Force Base … to enable [ICE] to stage and process criminal aliens with the U.S. for an operation taking place in Colorado," read the statement from U.S. Northern Command, which added that military personnel will not be involved in the operation.
The statement went on to say that ICE requires a "temporary operations center, staging area, and a temporary holding location for the receiving, holding, and processing of illegal aliens."
ICE announced it arrested nearly 1,200 illegals on Monday and more than 950 as of Tuesday morning.
The agency has conducted large-sale operations in New York and Chicago and is set to target the Denver metro area next, including Aurora, according to the CBS News report. Aurora made national headlines in August when videos surfaced of members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua taking over apartment buildings and terrorizing residents.
Denver is one of four sanctuary cities being investigated by the House Oversight Committee over "their abject failure to comply with federal law."
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston in November threatened a "Tiananmen Square moment" using tens of thousands of Mile High City residents to prevent federal agents from deporting illegal immigrants.
"More than us having [federal agents] stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there," Johnston said. "It's like the Tiananmen Square moment, right?"