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Immigrant Renovates Immigration

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The Associated Press

Published: July 5, 2008

OAKLAND PARK - OAKLAND PARK - Lady Liberty's welcome was sorely missing from the drab immigration office where Argentine architect Rodolfo Acevedo started his U.S. citizenship application in the early 1990s.

But there were huddled masses, or at least crowds fighting for parking, standing in line, wasting hours in overcrowded waiting rooms, yearning for a little attention from the harried federal employees.

The scene was repeated at offices across South Florida, one of the country's busiest naturalization hubs, where Acevedo was sent for fingerprints, interviews and more paperwork.

"They were kind of makeshift facilities in a strip mall," Acevedo said. "There was no welcoming, no warmth from the facilities. The furniture, the finishes, even the colors, the location within the town - it was never feeling like they were there to actually help you."

A citizen since last summer, Acevedo is drawing on his experiences to design five new offices for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that feature more light and space, playrooms for children and a prominent image of the Statue of Liberty's welcoming face.

The centers are to open later this year in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, part of a national remodeling of immigration offices that the agency acknowledged in a news release are often "overcrowded, inefficient and located in areas that did not serve the immigration community."

Mixed Messages

Acevedo, 47, had been an architect in his home country but could only find work as a busboy when he arrived in Florida in 1990. The restaurant's owner encouraged him to bring his portfolio to network with architects who came in for lunch. One eventually hired Acevedo to help out in his office, and Acevedo is now a partner in that firm, Boca Raton-based JMWA Architects.

It may be a coincidence that CIS is using an architectural firm with a lot of naturalized citizens, because many businesses in South Florida have immigrants in the work force. That will likely be the case for the construction crews, too, who in Florida are typically about 35 percent immigrant.

Immigrant advocates welcome the friendlier offices but note that federal authorities have also increased enforcement actions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year doubled the arrests it made in 2006.

"While they may be sending this welcoming message, on the other hand we believe that the manner in which many of these sweeps are conducted is disturbing," said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.

The new offices Acevedo has designed, with a team mostly comprised of other immigrants, will replace existing facilities in Miami and West Palm Beach.

A Face Of Welcome

During a recent tour of the building under construction in Oakland Park, just north of Fort Lauderdale, Acevedo pointed out the amenities all five buildings will share.

Each has ample parking and is near public transportation in communities with large immigrant populations. Skylights and large windows will illuminate comfortable waiting areas decorated in soothing pastel colors. Indoor play areas and Internet cafes will offer diversions for waiting children and adults.

Information booths, self-serve computer terminals and private offices promise all the services needed to complete a citizenship application. The heart of each building is a small, sky-lit auditorium for naturalization ceremonies.

The face of the Statue of Liberty is etched into exterior glass surfaces.

"We wanted to do the welcoming and kind of friendlier appearance," Acevedo said.

The Oakland Park facility will serve immigrants who otherwise would have to travel about 35 miles to an office in downtown Miami. Lines outside that building can stretch around the block and last for hours.

Acevedo's designs are part of an image makeover for a federal agency often associated with intimidation and inefficiency. Facilities in Orlando, Denver, Dallas and Portland, Ore., are also slated for replacement.

The processing times at the immigration centers in Florida are among the longest in the country; immigration workers warn cases can take longer than 14 months to be completed in Miami and Orlando.

Federal immigration officials say the new buildings will boost efficiency in processing immigration applications.

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