Making Southern Colorado safer is the goal behind a new office opening Monday morning. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office, or ICE, now has a new home in Colorado Springs.

The various ICE offices around the country make up the largest investigative unit in the Department of Homeland Security.

One local commissioner says having the presence of Homeland Security in El Paso County will give local communities an added boost of security. "Most importantly, the mere presence of an immigration office has a chilling effect on any number of criminal activities," says El Paso County Commissioner Jim Bensberg.

I-25 is a corridor for travelers, tourists and suspicious activity. "The fact that 80% of Meth that comes through this country comes from south of the border and travels north on I-25 on its way to other parts of the county," says Bensberg.

Bensberg says this new office will be a win-win for the El Paso County and its communities. "I truly believe that having law enforcement agents here at any level...will make this a safer community," says Bensberg.

The ICE office will be staffed with ten to 12 agents who will investigate a variety of immigration and customs related crimes. Those include human trafficking, drug and weapon smuggling and gang activities.

In the long term, Bensberg hopes El Paso County will have a federal campus of agencies like ICE that will be centered around a federal courthouse.

The office will open November 30, 2009 in the Pueblo Bank and Trust office in downtown Colorado Springs. If you see suspicious activity, agents ask you report it by calling 1-866-347-2423.