U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard has asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to step up their efforts in handling cases of illegal aliens detained in El Paso County. Allard said that opening a new ICE office in Colorado Springs might be the most effective way to handle the growing problem of illegal immigrants crowding the county jail.Allard’s letter to ICE was in response to the combined efforts of El Paso County Commission Chairman Jim Bensberg and Sheriff Terry Maketa.”Sen. Allard responded quickly and decisively to our concerns,” said Bensberg.El Paso County’s illegal immigrant cases are handled by ICE agents from Denver and Pueblo. According to the letter written by Allard to ICE officials, “Approximately 30,000 of the state’s estimated 200,000 illegal immigrants are in El Paso County; the ICE resources currently allocated to El Paso County may be insufficient.”With as many as 100 illegal immigrants in custody at any give time, the county spends $1.2 million a year – a significant portion of its budget to hold them. If, instead of releasing illegal immigrants back into the community, ICE resources were allocated to facilitate deportation, return visits would be prevented and the taxpayers of El Paso County would realize significant savings.”Intersection of Curtis Road and Falcon Highway top priority for the countyAt a budget session on July 7, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners ranked a list of backlogged projects from the Colorado Department of Transportation. The BoCC approved five road projects that will be funded with an appropriation from unspent monies in the road and bridge fund.The top-ranked road project: the intersection at Curtis Road and Falcon Highway. The intersection experiences high volumes of east-west commuter traffic as well as north-south commuters heading to and from Schriever Air Force Base.When the improvements are complete, they will include a new traffic signal, wider shoulders, left-turn lanes for all approaches and a grade adjustment to improve sight distances for motorists. The work will involve earthmoving, paving, utility relocation and drainage improvements. Some property acquisition for the right-of-way will also be required.This is the third safety improvement project within the Curtis Road corridor to be funded by the commissioners. Similar intersection safety projects were completed at Garrett Road and Curtis Road this past spring, and also a two-mile rehabilitation project south of state Highway 94 that was completed in 2003.
