U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials recently visited several Georgia college campuses, not to detain immigrants, but to recruit students.
Their presence triggered some criticism, including at the University of Georgia, where students held a protest outside a careers fair on Feb. 4. There’s also been pushback when CBP attended recent career fairs at Kennesaw State and the University of North Georgia.
It was not the agency’s first time at a Georgia college career fair. But Hampton Barrineau, a UGA senior who attended the protest, said CBP’s presence carried more significance this year; after CBP deployed personnel to Minneapolis for “Operation Metro Surge.” Two agents shot Alex Pretti, an American citizen whose Jan. 24 death sparked national outrage. Earlier in January, Renee Nicole Good, also a U.S. citizen, died when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fired into her car.
“After a very high visibility murder of somebody, I think it’s kind of shameless they were (at the fair) in the first place,” said Barrineau, adding that the agency “has blood on its hands.”
In statements sent to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, UNG said that CBP has attended career fairs multiple times since 2018. UGA said the agency has participated in its career fairs over the last six years. None of the statements indicated any plans to change the employer application process.
Considering that history, UGA sophomore JT Marshburn called the recent dissent “comical.”
“I think it’s manufactured political outrage,” said Marshburn, vice chair of College Republicans at UGA. “Restricting which employers can recruit based off political disagreement would just totally undermine the whole guise of student choice, and that’s the whole point of a career fair.”
Federal immigration agencies have not limited their recruiting to Georgia schools. They’ve encountered pushback from students after planned appearances at career fairs at the University of Alabama, Arizona State, Ohio State, George Washington University and other schools.
At Arizona State, the Chicano/Latino Law Student Association requested the school revoke U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s invitation, saying that ICE is not just an employer but “represents family separation, detention, and fear.” ICE ultimately backed out of the event, according to the student newspaper.
Three people were arrested while protesting CBP recruiters at an Ohio State career fair. And at George Washington, more than 1,000 people signed a petition condemning the school for not disinviting ICE from a career fair.
UGA saw a modest turnout on Feb. 4, with a couple dozen people attending despite the rain. It was among a series of anti-ICE protests that students and community members there have organized in recent weeks.
CBP did not provide comment by press time. But a December news release from the Department of Homeland Security — which oversees CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — said CBP has seen a 42.5% increase in average monthly officer hires and an 84% increase in Border Patrol agent hires since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“Eligible new hires can receive substantial recruitment and retention bonuses, with select positions offering incentives that rival the most competitive opportunities in the workforce,” reads a CBP press release. That can mean up to $60,000 in incentives, “enabled by the One Big Beautiful Bill’s investment in border security.”
CBP also offers internship programs for current students and recent graduates, where they can assist the agency in “safeguarding our homeland, protecting the American people, and facilitating lawful trade and travel.”
All three Georgia schools noted that career fair attendance is entirely optional for students and that they are not required to speak with employers who do not align with their career goals. And they said that the agency had registered for the events in advance, following the same protocol as other interested employers.
“As a public institution, we are obligated to ensure equal access to our facilities and events for all organizations that comply with our policies,” said UGA.
That makes sense to Marshburn. “I don’t think political disagreement with an organization should count for their removal from a taxpayer subsidized career fair at a public university,” he said. “I think we have to stand on principle, and if they were allowed to be at the last five (UGA career fairs) then they should be at this one too.”
Barrineau acknowledged that it could be difficult for a public university that relies on federal funding to deny a federal agency access on campus to an event like a career fair. And he recognized “there are going to be violent criminals and such that need to be out of this country.”
But he is bothered that his university “allowed” CBP to attend the fair considering its “political goal of trying to separate families and get rid of some of the hardest working people that I know.”
The once vibrant Latino-majority communities in his hometown of Canton, he said, are now “barren” and “ghost towns.” He believes it’s because ICE and CBP have instilled fear among community members.
“I get the economy is tough right now, but I think that maintaining some level of morality in your job is pretty important. Especially if your organization is tied up with the murder of a civilian, a nurse nonetheless,” he said. “I think the nature of the job frankly is just very unconscionable.”
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