Orlando comic and musician Larry Fulford and friends are hosting an Anything but ICE Job Fair on Friday, March 27, outside the ICE office on Delegates Drive in Orlando.
Fulford tells Orlando Weekly that the job fair is a rebuke to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ presence in Central Orlando.
“It’s a protest, essentially,” Fulford says. “But with a purpose, and that’s to let employees at ICE know that there are other jobs available.”
Fulford has been involved in a couple of previous protests outside the ICE field office over the last few months, but Anything but ICE breaks the mold of previous protests.
Fulford believes the typical protest format could perhaps be more impactful if it had a clear purpose. “We eventually were like, ‘Instead of just coming and shouting and just having, you know, random signs, what if there was a focus?’” Fulford recalls.
The signs and messaging that will be used at Anything but ICE are driving the event’s very singular purpose. “I’ve only been [protesting] outside the building twice, like once a month the last two months, this time, it’ll differ in the signage that we’re hoping that people bring and that we’ve even made,” Fulford says. “It’s all career change and job-oriented.”
The concept of blending a job fair and a protest is a novel one, and Fulford emphasizes that being affiliated with ICE is truly a choice for folks in our community. “They don’t have to be ICE agents or work for them at all,” Fulford says. “There are other jobs in the Orlando area that are available.”
While Anything but ICE takes a comedic approach to traditional protests, it also carries a heavy layer of sincerity. “We made these flyers for the event, to get the word out. I also mailed those same flyers to the ICE office to let them know we’ll be outside on such and such a day, if you’re earnestly interested in a career change,” explains Fulford.
The flyers depict typical attributes of an ICE agent and apply those skills to other jobs, including miming, laser-tag management and beekeeping. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you like covering your face? Maybe be a beekeeper’ or whatever,” Fulford says. “And really, that was just a form of ‘if it’s cutesy and witty, maybe more people look at it.’”
Beyond the tongue-in-cheek nature of the flyers, there will be a compiled list of real Orlando-based jobs and people offering help with résumé updates at the protest.
“I have a list of like dozens, if not hundreds, at this point, of local jobs in the area, that I will just read,” Fulford says. “There’s people there that have experience in HR, so like, and I 100% doubt this, but if somebody did come out and they’re like, ‘Hey, you know, I kind of need help updating my résumé,’ there are people who can do that.”
The Anything but ICE approach also aims to make protesting more accessible to folks who have perhaps been too intimidated to do so. “If you’re just making a flyer, that’s, like, ‘Protest City Hall,’ that’s kind of intimidating, and people might be like, ‘yuck,’” Fulford says. “But, if you come at it with a humorous angle, they might be like, ‘OK, these seem like OK people. We can help out with this.”
Fulford — who is a writer, comedian and creator of interactive comedy experience What Do You Want From Us?! — got interested in politics “super accidentally,” through a comedian friend, Cliff Cash. Fulford expressed that he felt the need to get involved, but wasn’t sure how to make an impact. A web of connections led him to dream up Anything but ICE.
Fulford now urges those in a similar position just to go out and try. “Some people are like, ‘Do you really think that doing something will do anything?’ And I’m like, ‘No, but I know that not doing anything will do nothing,’” Fulford says.
He is hopeful that the Central Florida community will be impacted by the sight of Anything but ICE as they complete their afternoon commutes. “[People will be] looking out the window, they’re driving their cars past us, and they’re seeing Americans who completely disagree with how ICE has turned,” Fulford says. “It’s taken a turn for the absolute atrocious. I hope it kind of wakes up the community more.”
He urges Orlando to stand its ground against ICE involvement. “As an Orlando resident, it’s like, have a presence,” Fulford says. “These [agents] have a presence. These guys have a presence in cities all over the country at this point. We also need to make our presence known.”
Anything but ICE takes place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, March 27, outside the ICE building at 9495 Delegates Drive.
