Immigration enforcement efforts around Home Depot locations are disrupting the informal labor market that has long existed just beyond the store’s front doors.
The drop in visible day laborers follows unannounced raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which have swept through store parking lots across the US, targeting undocumented workers who wait for jobs from contractors and homeowners.
At a Home Depot in northern New Jersey on Tuesday, a smaller group of men waited near the lot entrance. In Houston, no laborers could be seen across three locations. In Los Angeles, the few who showed up were told by store security to stay on the sidewalk.
Home Depot officially enforces a “no solicitation” policy, with laborers only allowed to gather off company property, a spokeswoman said. The company has faced criticism from both immigration advocates and opponents, who accuse it of either enabling an undocumented workforce or failing to support vulnerable workers.
ICE activity sparks legal action and protests
On Friday, a raid at a strip mall in Westlake, Los Angeles, home to a Home Depot and a community center for day laborers, triggered protests across the city, with immigration agents making multiple arrests.
The Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles said eight workers were detained in the incident.
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“Now a handful of workers are in the parking lot, when it used to be hundreds,” said Martha Arévalo, the organization’s executive director.
The federal response has faced plenty of legal scrutiny. In one April incident in Pomona, California, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents arrested a man at gunpoint and later detained nine day laborers at a nearby Home Depot. A federal judge temporarily blocked the expedited removal of three Guatemalan men, citing concerns over legality.
“The government canceled expedited removal orders for the three men and is now seeking to deport them in removal proceedings before an immigration judge.”
CBP declined to comment on incidents related to ongoing legal action.
Company distances itself from immigration enforcement
A Home Depot spokeswoman confirmed the company has no coordination with immigration officials and does not receive advance notice of ICE raids. In Los Angeles, regional leaders have reminded store managers to report any nearby enforcement to corporate headquarters and told employees to avoid contact with agents for safety.
Home Depot offers paid leave to affected employees, the spokeswoman added.
Arévalo said the company has been unwilling to partner with her group on providing support such as bathroom access. “We’d love to collaborate with them,” she said, but “Home Depot has never been an entity where it’s been easy to work with them.”
Ten miles south in west Los Angeles, day laborers are reportedly still trying to find work from the sidewalk. A group of eight men called out to passing vehicles, shouting in English and Spanish: “You have work?”