U.S. Customs and Border Protection will host a two-day recruitment event in Tampa Bay this week, spurring planned protests Tuesday in St. Petersburg and Tampa.<\/p>\n
The agency arrives in the region as the killing of Renee Good during a confrontation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis continues to draw national outrage.<\/p>\n
Locally, protestors demonstrated outside Tampa City Hall on Thursday<\/a> and in front of St. Petersburg police headquarters and in Largo over the weekend<\/a>. They objected to violent immigration enforcement tactics, as well as local cooperation with ICE through a program that trains state and local law enforcement officers to serve as immigration officers.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the nation\u2019s largest law enforcement agency, CBP is recruiting exceptional talent to fill mission-critical roles in law enforcement and mission operations support,\u201d the event\u2019s registration website reads<\/a>.<\/p>\n Among the open positions listed are border patrol agent, criminal investigator and Customs and Border Protection officer. The event, according to the website, is informational only. No interviews will be held, nor will job offers be made.<\/p>\n While Customs and Border Protection and ICE are different agencies, they are becoming more intertwined as the former plays a greater role in immigration arrests<\/a>.<\/p>\n The event\u2019s website does not list ICE jobs as a part of the event but notes that open positions are \u201cnot limited to\u201d the listed offerings.<\/p>\n The event\u2019s location is only shared with confirmed registrants, agencyspokesperson Tammy Melvin told the Tampa Bay Times. The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n Organizers who oppose the event coming to Tampa Bay have widely circulated the Carillon Park Hilton in St. Petersburg as the believed location. Protests are planned there both Tuesday and Wednesday.<\/p>\n The hotel\u2019s general manager did not answer or return a phone call seeking comment. On Monday afternoon, a vehicle from the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s Federal Protective Service agency was parked in the hotel\u2019s lot.<\/p>\n Harrison Lundy, a policy director for Voices of Florida, one of the local organizations planning the protests, said their goal is to demonstrate for the entirety of the event.<\/p>\n \u201cOur main goal is to bring visibility, but not give the opposition what they want, which is to portray us as violent,\u201d Lundy told the Times.<\/p>\n Lundy, speaking of the unconfirmed location, said it was \u201cshameful\u201d of Hilton to host the event, and that Voices of Florida will likely support or organize a boycott against the company.<\/p>\n Last week, a Hampton Inn in a Minneapolis suburb was removed as a booking option<\/a> on Hilton\u2019s website after the hotel was accused of denying service to immigration agents. A conservative influencer posing as a Department of Homeland Security employee posted a video on X<\/a> showing him being turned away when he tried to book rooms.<\/p>\n