GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The Trump administration launched a hiring campaign to recruit more agents to detain immigrants six weeks ago, and in that time, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said a record-breaking number of people have applied.
“These candidates are not just applying for a job; they are applying to guard our values and defend our homeland,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.
USCIS said it does not break the applications down by state, but said a total of 35,000 people have applied for Homeland Defender positions since Sept. 30.
One of those is Phillip Hurley from Gwinnett County.
“I saw the advertisement for it, and I thought I could come on board and help out,” Hurley said.
He told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco that the videos showing tense encounters between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and communities did not deter him.
“Not really. I mean, things already get, like, dicey when it comes to different families and stuff, but I just hope for the best outcome,” Hurley said.
Immigration services are offering signing bonuses of up to $50,000 for certain positions, although USCIS does not confirm which ones or a timeline for that pay.
“For me, it’s not about that. I like serving the community,” Hurley said.
He said he wants to detain criminals.
“People that are potential rapists, that are doing criminal activities, things like that,” Hurley said.
Federal data indicates 59,762 people were in detention as of September 2025.
Of that, 27,746 have no criminal convictions or pending charges. They are listed under the category “Other Immigration Violator”.
Atlanta’s Latin American Association CEO, Santiago Marquez, is concerned the hiring blitz will cause that number to rise.
“We’re definitely going to see an increase. We’ve been bracing ourselves to see an increase in activity. We just don’t know what that’s going to look like,” Marquez said. “If it looks anything like L.A., Chicago, or those cities, it’s going to create a lot of chaos and confusion.”
It is unclear how many will get the job in metro-Atlanta.
The Trump administration dedicated $45 billion to the Department of Homeland Security in July of this year.
Since then, agents have been detaining about 88,000 people every three months. That’s about 10,000 more than the Biden Administration detained in a three-month period.
To see the detention management numbers for each fiscal year dating back to 2019, CLICK HERE.
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