Oregon Public Broadcasting

A federal agency is preparing to move its Oregon field office into a new green building. A private firm is building the office in Portland's Pearl District.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will move into the space next year. The agency has been at the same site in downtown Portland for almost 100 years. 

The local director of USCIS says the new building will be more energy efficient and more secure. 

The federal government had originally proposed moving the field office to West Linn. Congressman Earl Blumenauer says Oregon's representatives and senators protested.

Earl Blumenauer: "it was going to be a suburban enclave removed from the community that needed the assistance and would have exploded the carbon footprint."

The new office will serve people from across Oregon and southwest Washington.  It's accessible by public transportation and is being built with recycled wood and LED lighting.