Military officials have opened Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to process and temporarily house detained immigrants. U.S. Northern Command opened the base to ICE on Monday at the request of the U.

The decision comes on top of U.S. military deportation flights of undocumented migrants out of the country and the deployment of just over 1,600 active-duty troops to the U.S. border with Mexico

Colorado immigrant rights groups and local officials are bracing for the possibility that President Donald Trump’s threatened “Operation Aurora” to round up and deport immigrants who have committed crimes will soon begin.

The decision to allow law enforcement officers to use facilities at Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colo., plunges the U.S. military deeper into President Trump’s order to secure the southwestern border.

U.S. Northern Command began providing facilities at Buckley Space Force Base at the request of the Department of Homeland Security on Monday for immigration operations, a spokesperson told FOX31 on Tuesday.

The former Air Force base is “providing facilities” for staging and detention at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Buckley Space Force Base in the Denver area will be used for immigration operations, according a U.S. Northern Command spokesperson. ICE and Department of Homeland Security staff will be involved in the operation.