Undocumented day workers in Southern California are being forced to balance the possibility of being jailed or deported against the opportunity to earn much-needed money as masked federal agents in tactical gear converge on Home Depot locations.
In the midst of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, at least two Home Depot parking lots in the Los Angeles region were targeted on Friday. As organizers yelled for the sight of warrants and tried to get as much information as they could from restrained workers, day laborers were arrested in North Hollywood and Alhambra.
With NBC 7, you can watch San Diego News for free, anywhere, at any time.
Day laborers, who are struggling to make ends meet in a local economy still rebuilding from January’s wildfires and the soaring cost of building materials due to tariffs, have seen the picture before this summer.
Every morning, they wait in parking lots in the hopes of getting a day’s wage or, with luck, being hired for a long-term job that may provide weeks or months of consistent income.
However, many employees claim that the continual fear of being arrested is causing them to become traumatized and unable to sleep after witnessing friends and family members being detained and transported to jail.
What are you able to do? You can’t stay at home in this country. “You need money for kids, bills, rent, and food,” Arturo, a Spanish-speaking day laborer in Los Angeles, remarked.
Fearing that they might be singled out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other federal officials, Arturo and other workers interviewed by NBC News talked on condition of anonymity.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia notified by ICE that he may be deported to Uganda
ICE director says agents won’t be at D.C. schools on the first day but may be going forward
Officers detain man in ICE enforcement on National Mall as he screams for help
About a week after Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, a Guatemalan day laborer, died after escaping from agents at a Home Depot parking lot in Monrovia, Home Depot operations took place on Friday. He was struck by a car after running into a nearby freeway.
Community members and immigration supporters described Montoya, who was in the United States illegally, as a hardworking father rather than a criminal.
He came here to put in a lot of labor. During a ceremony for Montoya last week, Mariela Mendez, his niece, assured mourners that her uncle was not a criminal. He desired a better life, which is what many of us desire.
When Montoya passed away, federal officials were not pursuing him, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Home Depot refused to comment on his passing or provide the number of arrests that had taken place on its grounds.
The Atlanta-based organization stated in an emailed statement that “we aren’t notified that ICE activities are going to happen, and in many cases, we don’t know that arrests have taken place until after they’re over.” In every market where we do business, we have to abide by all local and federal laws and regulations.
The tiny tree where his friend used to lock up his bike every morning was the scene of Jose’s silent tears as he sat in his pickup parked near where Montoya began running.
According to Jose, who had known Montoya for roughly five years, he was gregarious and talkative with the other employees who gathered in the parking lot each morning.
Jose claimed that he came a few hours later than normal on the day of Montoya’s death and was perplexed by the chaos. The traffic stopped and helicopters blasted overhead.
He spoke in Spanish while crying, “It’s like it happened to all of us.” We are all acquainted. We are all the same.
Jose claimed that it was devastating to revisit the location of Montoya’s passing, but he had little options. The thought of not making money every day keeps him up at night since he needs to work.
He wasn’t an offender. Jose claimed that Montoya wasn’t a nasty guy and that he didn’t understand why he ran onto the freeway. He should have taken a risk with an immigration judge, in my opinion.
Felipe waited for someone to hire him while standing in the shade of a tree a little distance away. Prior to the Covid pandemic crippling the restaurant business, he worked in restaurants and has been in the United States since 2015. He claimed that although he has visited this Home Depot on a daily basis for the past five years, the prospects have dwindled. Wildfires, tariffs, and now the threat of immigration enforcement were the first causes.
Felipe recalls a time when he had complete control over the tasks he performed on which days. He’s fortunate to have a job now, even if it’s only for a few hours.
He remarked, “Thank God I wasn’t here when they got Carlos.” “I wouldn’t have any clothes in Mexico.
Felipe indicated the small tree close by when asked when he had last seen Montoya.
Felipe mentioned that he was sitting there conversing with someone. He appeared content.
Home Depots throughout Southern California are home to scores of volunteers, including Nancy Meza, an activist with the National Day Laborers Organizing Network. They keep an eye out for any new indications of immigration enforcement operations by patrolling parking lots and street corners. Volunteers yell warnings to coworkers in the area and gesture to one another in a group chat when they are detected.
According to Meza, she hears a combination of resolve and tension among day workers. Despite the personal cost, many promise to keep working in order to feel normal and to keep a consistent paycheck.
‘If we stay at home and just sit back in fear, it makes things worse, we feel terribly worried, powerless,’ she told them. They’d choose to take a chance.
On a sweltering day, Arturo stood outside a different Home Depot and expressed remorse for not attempting to obtain citizenship or studying English despite having lived in the United States for 25 years. He claimed that after a long day of labor, he was too ashamed to go to night classes while drenched in paint and perspiration.
He added that many of his acquaintances who were able to hire attorneys and go through the procedure reported that it cost them about $15,000 and that they had to wait for about ten years. He claimed that the citizenship process is similarly expensive and time-consuming. Arturo believed that working would be a better use of his time so that he could depart sooner.
Arturo planned to return to Mexico within a few years of his arrival, as is the case with many undocumented individuals. However, he had two children after falling in love. He claimed that since they are now teenagers, he cannot abandon them. He is concerned that they would feel too alienated in a foreign country if he brought them to Mexico.
Rather, he urges students to put in a lot of study time and enroll in college. He works six days a week to help make that happen, freeing up Sundays to be with his kids and go to church.
He said that the advantages of his actions exceed the risks.
He said that the only thing you can do is work to stay alive. Whether they are immigrants or not, people come out to eat.
