How Home Depot Got Caught in Trump's Immigration Crackdown

[Canuck Conservative]

by Jesus Mesa
Newsweek (June 12, 2025)
https://www.newsweek.com/home-depot-ice-raids-trump-immigration-2084280

Scenes of protest and riots that erupted in Los Angeles last week were partly sparked by an unexpected immigration raid on Friday at a Home Depot in the Westlake neighborhood. Dozens were arrested in a coordinated sweep that also hit garment factories downtown and additional Home Depot locations in suburban cities like Paramount and Huntington Park.

The big-box retailer, founded in 1978 and now boasting over 2,300 stores, has long been more than just a place to buy lumber and paint—it's also been an informal hiring hub for day laborers, many of them undocumented. The parking lots of Home Depot stores around the country have functioned, for decades, as sites where homeowners and contractors can connect with available laborers for their immediate needs, no resume required...

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of President Trump's immigration strategy, has explicitly ordered ICE to target informal labor gathering points such as Home Depot and 7-Eleven. "Why aren't you at Home Depot?" Miller reportedly asked ICE leadership in a Washington meeting last month, frustrated that arrests weren't meeting daily targets.

Over the weekend, the consequences of those orders were visible across Los Angeles. In Paramount, anti-ICE protesters clashed with sheriff's deputies as raids unfolded. In Huntington Park, a predominantly Latino suburb, raids resumed Monday morning. And in Westlake, witnesses described a chaotic scene as agents detained workers while others fled.

The raids are also having an economic impact, as frequent enforcement at Home Depot locations may be driving away customers. On Tuesday in northern New Jersey, the Wall Street Journal reported far fewer workers showed up for contractors than a few months ago. At two Home Depot stores in Los Angeles, store security kept the few men who did come confined to the public sidewalks. And at three stores around Houston, no laborers were seen at all.

"Even workers who I know have legal status were running," said Jorge Nicolás, a senior organizer at the Central American Resource Center, or CARECEN, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times ...

[Sighlass]

"Even workers who I know have legal status were running," said Jorge Nicolás, a senior organizer at the Central American Resource Center, or CARECEN, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times ...

I call bull on this.... why would you run if you were legal and could command top dollar since the competition is thinned out.

Now a good American kid that wants to make a honest living in home repairs/etc... can compete.

[Canuck Conservative]

One actually might find a surprising number of criminals in these "informal job centers" like the HD parking lots, since there's no background checks ... plus they get paid in cash, so there's no official records and they don't pay any taxes, which also appeals to the criminal mindset

Happy hunting, ICE!

[Sighlass]

One actually might find a surprising number of criminals in these "informal job centers" like the HD parking lots, since there's no background checks ... plus they get paid in cash, so there's no official records and they don't pay any taxes, which also appeals to the criminal mindset

Happy hunting, ICE!

Sister used them "once" (yard work)... the next night her shed was robbed. They later found her lawnmower in Arizona about 6 months later. I would of pressed charges of receiving stolen property (she didn't).

[GtHawk]

Sister used them "once" (yard work)... the next night her shed was robbed. They later found her lawnmower in Arizona about 6 months later. I would of pressed charges of receiving stolen property (she didn't).

one time we had a job converting a former pet shop into a dollar tree the information we receive about the depth of the sewer line we had to tie into was just a few feet off and we were behind schedule , so my boss went to the Home Depot and picked up, a couple of Julio’s to help us dig in the hard clay one guy was a hard worker the other a lazy ass whiner so we gave him the demo hammer with a spade bit I was using and I used a pick and shovel and still out dug the ass. We ended up sending him packing.

In about 2007 my friend was selling his home and there was a lot of cleaning out and small repairs so we  went to the local HD because he was going to hire a couple guys to do the grunt work, back then they were demanding $20 an hour and lunch. He told the Julio’s not gonna happen it was more than out company was paying apprentice electricians to start( okay maybe his language was a bit different) and then a bunch of them started moving on us somI told him to put it drive and hit the gas. Just hard working immigrants the left says, F’em I say, they are violent feral bastards who just like many Blacks in America feel the Gringo owes them…….everything!

[240B]

Sister used them "once" (yard work)... the next night her shed was robbed. They later found her lawnmower in Arizona about 6 months later. I would of pressed charges of receiving stolen property (she didn't).

Me too. Hired a bunch of illegals many years ago for yard work in Arizona. They remember where you live. Once there, it is like they form some kind of 'connection' with your property. They kept coming back asking for money/work. It took me a month to finally get rid of them. They thought I was some kind of ATM.

[libertybele]

Me too. Hired a bunch of illegals many years ago for yard work in Arizona. They remember where you live. Once there, it is like they form some kind of 'connection' with your property. They kept coming back asking for money/work. It took me a month to finally get rid of them. They thought I was some kind of ATM.

I had hurricane impact windows installed recently. The first crew the company sent out not one of them could speak English.  I called their office and complained.  They then sent out the field manager and I complained to him.  He couldn't believe that their workers unable to speak English was an issue.  I flat out asked him if those working for the company were here legally.  He told me of course all of his people were screened (not that I believed him).  I had to call the office again because they installed the wrong windows and the owner of the company went off on me telling me that I was full of hate because I didn't like the workers that they sent out.   

I wonder what they are thinking now with the so-called 'peaceful' protests going on???