Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    working4change
    Guest

    Immigration center moving to West Philadelphia

    Immigration center moving to West Philadelphia

    By Michael Matza

    Inquirer Staff Writer

    The Philadelphia office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - gateway to America for thousands of immigrants - will move from its longtime home at 16th and Callowhill Streets to a new, environmentally friendly, $30 million building in West Philadelphia at the end of 2012.

    Still to be constructed at 30 N. 41st St., the facility will accommodate about 140 federal employees whose jobs include processing green cards for permanent residents and swearing in new citizens.

    University Place Associates, the developer, expects to break ground in December.

    The building also will house the Application Support Center, where immigrants submit fingerprints and photographs. It currently is in a remote part of Northeast Philadelphia, near the airport.

    The decision to move came at the end of the agency's current lease, said USCIS spokeswoman Anita Rios Moore. She described it as part of a strategy to consolidate immigration services.

    The location of the application center has been "a tremendous disadvantage for immigrants without cars or familiarity with the city," said Robert Braun, owner of Rosa Photo, a business based in a panel truck parked like a fixture near the USCIS office. For a fee, it provides assistance with immigration documents.

    Depending on zoning regulations in West Philadelphia, Braun said, he anticipates relocating his truck to a street near the new location, or possibly renting a storefront in its vicinity.

    "We all know about the lunch trucks at Drexel and Penn," he said, "so my guess is it won't be forbidden."

    In the 1980s, an average of 6,500 immigrants a year became U.S. citizens through the Philadelphia regional office, which was small enough to fit into the basement of the federal courthouse in Center City. In 1990, with three times as many clients, the agency moved to the boxy, six-story brick building in Franklintown, a former factory where newcomers made tools for the Baldwin Locomotive Works a century ago.

    In its new location, USCIS will be the anchor tenant in the 97,000-square-foot, five-story building. USCIS has reportedly signed a 15-year lease, valued at $26 million, on 53,000 square feet.

    The building will feature solar panels, shading systems for the summer months, rainwater recycling, and a 20,000-square-foot rooftop park.

    Contact staff writer Michael Matza at 215-854-2541 or mmatza@phillynews.com.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20111 ... lphia.html

  2. #2
    Senior Member GaPatriot's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    879
    Built by illegals for illegals.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •