Tim is eyeing a career change. The 26-year-old has a full-time job with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Salt Lake City, but the pay isn’t enough. He recently spent a lot of money helping his husband, a Peruvian immigrant, settle in the U.S., so he’s looking for a higher salary.

“We worked hard to get him here. It was expensive to go through the process,” he told The Intercept. “I want to do something to educate and help the process go more smoothly for other people.”

That’s what brought him to the Department of Homeland Security’s Career Expo in Provo, Utah, five days after the shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, where the Trump administration was seeking new recruits for its anti-immigrant campaign.

Tim knows that federal agents are responsible for separating families under Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation push. But he thinks that’s a risk immigrants knowingly take living in the U.S. “You want to come here for a better life, but you gotta do it the hard way,” he said before submitting an application to join U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

At the Utah Valley Convention Center, hundreds of people like Tim stood in the sun, many in suits with briefcases and resumes at the ready. The biggest line was for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement booth; a smaller queue led to the CBP stall next door. Recruiters strolled by the applicants, asking if anyone was a lawyer or had tentative offers, and plucking them out of line. If your resume was selected, you might hear back within the hour for interviews, fingerprints, and a drug test.

With the Trump administration’s push to hire 10,000 new ICE officers by the start of 2026, attendees drove overnight or flew in with hopes to get a leg up on other applicants with some in-person time with DHS recruiters last week. They heard about it from friends or family, from social media posts, or from the 1811 forum on Reddit — a hub for “active and aspiring” federal criminal investigators, or “special agents.” Due to the murder of Kirk at Utah Valley University less than five miles away, journalists were denied entry inside the fair to protect DHS personnel and candidate identities, an agency spokesperson told this reporter.

To understand the motivation of those seeking to join the Trump administration’s violent anti-immigrant campaign, The Intercept spoke to applicants near the parking lot outside. Prospects ran the gamut from college students seeking debt relief to those parroting white nationalist talking points. Many supported the administration’s hard-line approach to immigration, or were convinced that whatever ethical quibbles they might have with current immigration enforcement could be separated from the job itself. Most job-seekers agreed to speak on the condition that only their first name would be published.

Among those seeking DHS jobs, many had backgrounds in law enforcement or the military. Nick, a former Marines Corps reserve officer and current Florida state policeman, came to the fair on the recommendation of friends who work in ICE detention centers.

“I want to say it’s in my blood,” he said, between sips of his protein shake. “It’s what I want to do. I........

© The Intercept