The “Recruit Down the 99” Career and Internship Fair at the Save Mart Center brought opportunities, job possibilities and a protest, last week.
The first and second floors of the Save Mart Center were full of employers looking for students in multiple industries to join their company.
Many companies were flexible on the students’ majors, while others were very specific in who they were looking for.
E.&J. Gallo Winery, a family-owned company founded in Modesto, mainly looked for interns and was searching for engineers to join their team.
Out of 202 booths set up at the fair, there was one, in particular, that was controversial to many — the United States Customs and Border Protection agency.
The Border Patrol attended the career fair to offer job opportunities. However once groups who advocate for the protection of undocumented immigrants heard of the Border Patrol’s booth, a protest was quickly planned.
“These agencies and the work that they do should not be normalized,” said Luis Ojeda, one of the protest’s coordinators and a Fresno State alumnus.
Ojeda said the protest was planned on March 14 when he received an email with the information regarding CBP’s planned attendance at the fair.
Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro scheduled a news conference the day of the fair to address the concerns.
The fair had various federal, state and local government agencies and the intentional exclusion of any government agency recruitment on a public campus is prohibited by federal law, administration sources noted.
“I empathize with those who are concerned about that. On the other hand, I think it’s important to note that this is an event purely for the recruitment of students for employment,” Castro said.
He said that a week before the fair, DREAMers, undocumented students brought to the U.S. as children, had been informed about the Border Patrol’s attendance and no concerns from that group were raised.
“I think it’s important for us to provide opportunities for our students to work wherever they choose,” Castro said.
Border Patrol agent Lilian Segura said approximately 40 students at the fair showed interest in working for the agency.
“We are here to recruit for [the] border patrol and customs as well,” Segura said. “The beauty of this career is that it’s so diverse — there is not a specific schedule or routine that we have.”
Segura said one day she’ll be assigned one area in the field, and the next she’ll be patrolling the border. She said many don’t know there are different aspects of patrolling such as by horse and all-terrain vehicles, as well as serving as emergency medical technicians.
“It’s been a blessing for me to be able to serve my country in this way. And as I’ve mentioned, it’s very diverse — there’s no such thing as ‘you know what, this is getting old,’” Segura said.
She said the most rewarding part of being a Border Patrol agent is getting to talk one-on-one with people and giving a better insight of what the CBP is about.
“People have the wrong perspective of what we do, what our mission is and what we’re trying to do,” Segura said.
She said there are a lot of misconceptions in the media about what they do and how they “cover us and portray us.” She added, “We’re just here to serve our country, and there’s a proper way of doing it.”
In regards to the protesters, Segura said the agency is there for everyone who wants to pursue a career with CBP.
“We understand not everyone is going to [agree] with what we do, and it’s understandable. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but we’re here more to speak to the ones who are interested,” Segura said.
Octavio Ruvalcaba, a criminology major with an emphasis in law enforcement, said he approached the Border Patrol’s booth because a career in law enforcement is his goal. However, a job with the Border Patrol is not necessarily his No. 1 goal.
Regarding law enforcement, Ruvalcaba said, “There’s a lot of problems in the law enforcement field — some bad [and] some good — but you [have] to know both sides of the story. You can’t go in completely blaming someone else.”
However, Ruvalcaba said it is different with the CBP. His parents are both immigrants, and the idea of having a career that prevents people from coming to the U.S. like his parents, makes him feel “really awful.”
The Border Patrol booth was not grouped with government and law enforcement agencies at the job fair. They were placed in the school district both area. Segura said they were not notified of their placement and did not know why they were among school districts.
Megan Trindad contributed to this article.