Nearly one hundred people had just one item on their list as they entered the Home Depot in Monrovia Saturday: a small ice scraper worth a little less than a dollar.
They got back in line only minutes later to return the item. The action, known as a buy-in, was part of a larger demonstration at the Home Depot to pressure the company to “scrape ICE out of their stores,” said Erika Andiola, the political director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, which coordinated the event.
Volunteers flocked to the location, some wearing makeshift aprons, similar to those worn by Home Depot employees, with the phrase “ICE out of Home Depot.” Others used the orange Home Depot buckets as drums as they marched through the store.
“Whether the corporation wants to admit it or not, Home Depot has become ground zero for this cruel, vicious immigration enforcement that’s taking place in our country,” said Pablo Alvarado, NDLON’s co-executive director.
George Lane, manager of corporate communications for Home Depot, said in an email to The Times that “we are not coordinating with ICE or Border Patrol, and we’re not involved in the operations. We aren’t notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and often, we don’t know operations have taken place until they’re over.
“We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”
Home Depot employees did not interfere with the protesters and eventually closed off one of the store’s entrances. Organizers blocked off vehicle access to the front of the store during a press conference that followed the march.
S.J. Denning volunteers with East Pasadena Community Defense Corner, a group that runs patrols for ICE activity in the area, and hoped that Saturday’s demonstration would “create a little mischief” and increase awareness.
“It’s not okay to kidnap our neighbors off the streets,” said Denning. “This is a moral moment, and we should meet it with courage, all of us.”
The efforts were in part a response to the death of Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez, an immigrant day laborer who was struck and killed by an SUV in Monrovia after running onto the 210 Freeway while trying fleeing from immigration agents in mid-August.
The Department of Homeland Security previously told The Times that Montoya Valdez “was not being pursued by any DHS law enforcement.”
Montoya Valdez’s death was “destabilizing for the entire community,” said Michael Ocon, a board member for the Monrovia Unified School District.
“This issue impacts every single person that calls this region home,” he said.
The buy-in’s objective was to temporarily stall the store’s operation and show the financial contribution that day laborers make to the company — without staging a boycott, which Andiola said the community does not want.
“Day laborers do want people to come out to shop so they can get work,” Andiola said. “This was the way for us to still impact their business and at the same time, give the message that they need to get ICE out of their stores.”
For decades, Home Depot parking lots have functioned as workplaces for day laborers, many of whom are immigrants and show up every morning seeking work. These same lots have become key targets for immigration enforcement.
In the parking lot and across the street, next to the 210 freeway, NDLON members set up two altars, each with 24 white crosses, representing people who have died this year either during immigration raids or while detained, including Montoya Valdez.
About a dozen clergy from Pasadena and Altadena attended the demonstration, including Pastor Mayra Macedo-Nolan.
“Our community was already devastated by the Eaton fire,” Macedo-Nolan said. “The rebuild of our community will not happen without the labor of workers, and this is where they come to look for work.”
The post Day laborer organizers protest Home Depot, pressuring it to “scrape ICE out of their stores.” appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
