FORT SMITH -- Responding to a need for more room to provide its services to immigrants in western Arkansas and northeast Louisiana, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officially dedicated a new, spacious field office in north Fort Smith on Wednesday.
"In an effort to extend our customer service, we thought it was best to move into a location that shows what USCIS values and cares about," New Orleans District Director Cindy Gomez said during remarks at a dedication ceremony at the new office at 4628 Kelley Highway.
The office, occupied by the local staff of 12 since November, offers 14,000 square feet for its many immigration services. Field office director Christina Olguin said the location was strategic in that it was just off Interstate 540, near the bus route and was near the population served by the agency.
The office, which serves western Arkansas and the Shreveport area, sees an average of 136 people a day.
Gomez said it was difficult to continue to adequately provide service to its clients in the space it had on Old Greenwood Road in south Fort Smith since 2003.
In the previous location, the service's application support center, interview waiting room, information waiting room and naturalization ceremony room, as well as the security guards and security detection machines, were all in one room smaller than the naturalization room where Wednesday's dedication ceremony was held.
Construction of the new office was authorized three years ago, she said. The work was started last year, with the contract awarded to Glidewell Construction Co. of Barling. Fort Smith building permit records show the construction cost totaled $2.2 million.
The importance of the new building was not just about more space but also an opportunity for staff members to rededicate themselves to their mission, Michael Valverde, acting deputy associate director of the Field Operations Directorate, said during the dedication.
"It's about people who have made a commitment to change their lives and cross the line and to become United States citizens," he said.
The building was dedicated to John Kennedy, an Irish immigrant who served in the Union Army during the Civil War and who was awarded the Medal of Honor for maintaining cannon fire against an enemy attack to cover the retreat of his detachment. He is buried in Little Rock.
After the dedication, 12 people from 12 countries took the oath of citizenship during a naturalization ceremony presided over by U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III.
Holmes told the new citizens he enjoys naturalization ceremonies because the heritage they bring from their mother countries makes America richer and more diverse.
According to a news release, the new citizens were from Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Kenya, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia and Vietnam.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is under the Homeland Security Department. The New Orleans District consists of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Gomez said that while the district's immigrant population is not large compared with that of metropolitan areas such as New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles, the population is growing.
And the district is adjusting to that growth. She said a new field office in Memphis was scheduled to open in 2016 or 2017, and the service also plans to open a new office in Nashville.
The New Orleans district headquarters and field office moved into new spaces in New Orleans in November from temporary offices they occupied for eight years in Metairie after Hurricane Katrina, Gomez said.
Metro on 04/24/2015