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Podcast: Sangre Celestial
Episode:

Who attended the ICE recruitment fair?
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-09-02 19:00:00
Description: New job hires slowed dramatically this year as inflation and tariffs continued to unsettle the economy. But one agency wants to sign on 10,000 new workers: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ads show Uncle Sam in the style of a World War II recruitment poster, pointing his finger, with the words, “America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out.” No college degree is necessary, and you can be as young as 18. Mandatory: Passing a background check, drug test, and fitness test. Last week in Arlington, Texas, thousands of people answered that call at a two-day ICE recruitment drive. Brittny Mejia, who covers federal courts for The LA Times, attended the drive, and so far, she’s heard that 700 tentative job offers have been made. Those who were turned away didn’t have enough relevant job experience — they worked in fast food, for example — and/or were too young. She notes that current and prior federal law enforcement officers have a leg-up since they’ve presumably already completed training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Georgia, which all ICE agents must undergo. Mejia reports that demographics ranged widely among prospective candidates. Many Latinos showed up, including a young man whose dad was deported. Many people saw it as an opportunity simply to build a career, with an attractive salary and benefits. “A lot of people [were] saying, ‘I don't want a job, I want a career.’ …They needed to pay off a house they just bought. Someone I talked to who's in the solar panel industry was like, ‘I'm a contract worker. I pay for all my own benefits, and if I were to get a job with ICE, they would pay for my benefits.’ I did talk to several people who were really coming at it from an economic standpoint.” Some Latino applicants told Mejia that ICE agents were focused on arresting criminals, and they were okay with that; but reports have shown street vendors and people outside of Home Depot — with no criminal background — also being taken by ICE. “There was almost just a disconnect there. And it was interesting talking to some of the protesters who turned out because their big thing to me was: Everyone who's coming here has to know what's happening. If you don't know, then you're being willingly ignorant.”
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