The Obama administration is advancing a proposal to place a large office complex for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Prince George's County, a development that would bring more than 3,000 jobs to the region.
Though the decision is not final, the General Services Administration informed property owners that it will begin an environmental assessment of a proposed site in Camp Springs. That review process will take six to nine months.
Local officials applauded the move Thursday, and said it is the result of a long standing effort to increase the number of federal facilities moving to Prince George's County. Maryland leaders have been working separately for years to land a new headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the county.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — which processes immigration visa requests and naturalization and asylum applications, among other responsibilities — would bring about 3,200 jobs to the county.
"It did not happen by accident, and we have called upon the GSA to work with us to find locations that could successfully house federal facilities," said David S. Iannucci, an economic development adviser to Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III.
The announcement, he said, "is a great sign that we are making progress."
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