Federal immigration agents have increasingly targeted Home Depot parking lots across Southern California this summer, prompting lawsuits and local pushback while advocates warn the raids threaten day laborers and communities that have long gathered there for work.
Agents have raided the large Home Depot lot in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles at least five times this summer, activists and workers said, detaining some people and sending others fleeing. At least a dozen Home Depot stores across the region have been targeted, some repeatedly, since the administration stepped up immigration enforcement earlier this year, according to local organizers.
The trend has drawn renewed attention after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for federal officers to continue conducting broad immigration operations for now in Los Angeles, a ruling that the Homeland Security secretary praised as a victory for the rule of law and that immigrant advocates sharply criticized. Homelands Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the decision "a win" while advocates said it undermines civil rights for vulnerable people.
"When you undermine the civil rights of those who are more vulnerable, you undermine the civil rights of everyone else," Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said at a press conference near a Home Depot lot.
Workers, largely from Mexico, El Salvador and other countries, said they use whistles, two-way radios and volunteers on bicycles to watch for unmarked government vehicles and warn each other when agents arrive. Activists maintain lists of immigration enforcement activity and have sued federal authorities over the sweeps.
At the Van Nuys store, workers and witnesses said federal agents have entered the lot and arrested people before appearing to question others about their immigration status. Local store managers have at times closed automated glass doors to keep agents out, witnesses said. In a separate incident outside a Home Depot in Monrovia last month, a man who ran onto a nearby freeway to flee authorities was struck and killed, according to local accounts.
The parking-lot gatherings grew as Home Depot and similar big-box home improvement stores expanded, providing contractors a place to buy materials, compare prices and pull labor from a readily available pool. "If you’re going for the volume, if you’re going where people are, and you can enforce things, you go to Home Depot," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, noting contractors account for about half of Home Depot's business.
Company officials have repeatedly said Home Depot is not involved in immigration enforcement and that the retailer is not notified in advance when federal agents conduct operations near its stores. "We tell associates to report any suspected immigration enforcement activity immediately and not engage with the activity for their safety," said Beth Marlowe, a company spokesperson, adding that employees who feel unsettled may go home with pay after a raid.
Immigrant advocates argue the company could do more to protect customers, employees and day laborers who gather in its lots. Chris Newman, legal director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said the locations should receive the same protections some public facilities receive, pointing to city-run sanctuaries like libraries.
Los Angeles city officials have pushed back against the raids on properties owned by city departments. The Van Nuys store sits on land owned by Los Angeles World Airports, and Mayor Karen Bass said her office supports the litigation against the sweeps and has trained city workers to prepare for immigration enforcement on city-owned properties. Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado said the company has not done enough to discourage enforcement activity and opposed a proposed new Home Depot in her district.
Workers who frequent the lots described both practical and social reasons for returning despite the risk. Javier, a 52-year-old Mexican immigrant who has lived in the United States for decades, said he narrowly escaped three raids by hiding under a truck, driving off or slipping inside the store among other shoppers. Luis, a 37-year-old legal resident, said he and others believe agents are "just fishing" for people to detain.
Nonprofit groups operate a labor center at the Van Nuys parking lot that records workers' names and tracks employers who fail to pay, organizers said. Such local services and the sense of community are key reasons workers keep coming back even after repeated enforcement actions, they said.
The controversy touches on broader political dynamics. Home Depot was reportedly mentioned earlier this year as a potential target for immigration raids by a senior White House adviser involved in the administration's enforcement plans. The company, for its part, has denied participation in enforcement and said it does not receive advance notice of operations at its roughly 2,300 U.S. stores. The company's late co-founder supported former President Donald Trump, and its political action committee has donated to both major parties.
Analytics firm Placer.ai, which tracks foot traffic using cellphone data, reported that Home Depot stores in the Los Angeles area experienced a 10.7% decline in June and a 10% decline in July from the previous year. Those drops were larger than national declines for the chain in the same months. Experts cautioned that overall national sales have not been hurt but that disruptions could affect specific local stores if shoppers feel unsafe.
Legal action by immigrant-rights groups challenged the federal operations, arguing the sweeps violate civil rights and local policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The Supreme Court ruling allowed the operations to continue for now in Los Angeles, but litigation and political debate over the practices are ongoing.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. Advocates and city officials say they will continue legal and political efforts to curb what they describe as indiscriminate enforcement near community gathering spots. Federal officials and some lawmakers argue expanded enforcement is part of broader efforts to uphold immigration laws.
Observers say the issue raises questions about the responsibilities of private companies when their business models create concentrated labor pools and about how cities balance local sanctuary policies with federal enforcement. Nik Theodore, an urban planning professor, said the rise of big-box retail changed how contractors obtain bids and labor, which helped consolidate day-labor markets in retail parking lots.
For many workers, the stakes are immediate. Some are considering leaving the country temporarily or seeking other ways to avoid enforcement, while others said the practical need for work and the social bonds formed at the lots keep them returning despite the risks. "It's a place that becomes familiar," Javier said. "Here, all of us together, we've become friends."