Thread: $1M ICE office expected to open in ‘09

ICE office, more agents slated for Springs

$1M enforcement office expected to open in ‘09
By PERRY SWANSON
THE GAZETTE



The number of federal immigration agents based in Colorado Springs will jump next year from two to 10 as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency sets up a new office here, officials said Friday.

The office is expected to open in February 2009 and cost about $1 million, said Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo. The announcement caps more than two years of lobbying by Lamborn and other elected officials for increased immigration enforcement in the Pikes Peak region. The other backers included Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., El Paso County Commissioner Jim Bensberg and Sheriff Terry Maketa.

Government officials had complained that illegal immigrants are straining local resources, including the county jail, where up to 100 suspected illegal immigrants are in custody on any given day. The jail is so crowded that many inmates sleep in a tent outside the main building on East Las Vegas Street.

ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok on Friday confirmed that the agency plans to set up an office here, but he had no details. The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for catching and deporting illegal immigrants. It investigates other crimes, including money laundering, identity theft, drug trafficking, illegal exports and attacks on public infrastructure such as power plants.

Lamborn said alleviating strain on the jail should be the first priority for the new ICE agents.

“The immediate need is to address those that have committed a crime and make sure they’re sent out of the country,â€

GO, GO, ICE!! ICE, ICE BABY!!

The momentum is growing. Great job ICE.