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Denver Contract Detention Facility

immigration detention center in Colorado, US

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ139257780 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Denver Contract Detention Facility, also known as the Aurora ICE Processing Center, is a privately run immigration detention center located in Aurora, Colorado. It is operated by the GEO Group, a private prison corporation, under contract from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Its capacity was increased from 1,360 to 1,530 in late 2025. It is the only major ICE detention facility in Colorado.

US Congressman Jason Crow was denied entry for an inspection visit to the facility in January 2026.

History

The Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (later renamed The GEO Group), established in 1984, received its first contract for an immigration detention facility to operate the Aurora-based facility in 1987. The facility was built in 150 days.

In July 2026, an employee, who was leaving the facility, shot a protestor in the foot with his personal firearm during a confrontation. The employee faces charges including attempted second-degree murder.

Layout

The facility includes one large detention "North" building and a smaller annex (subdivided into East and West), connected by a covered walkway.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Denver Contract Detention Facility” as immigration detention center in Colorado, US. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Denver, Contract and Detention.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2025, 2026, 1984, 1987—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Denver, Contract and Detention providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Denver Contract Detention Facility”, the useful work is to connect “immigration detention center in Colorado, US” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q139257780. Authority coordinates are 39.761, -104.849. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2025, 2026, 1984 and 1987.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Denver Contract Detention Facility”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Denver Contract Detention Facility primary sources, Denver Contract Detention Facility archive and Denver research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Denver Contract Detention Facility”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Denver Contract Detention Facility” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.