WASHINGTON — Three laborers squatted in the shade under a tree outside a Home Depot in the nation’s capital Tuesday morning, hoping to find a day’s work before the temperature hit 90 degrees. Two city police cruisers idled nearby as several private security cars circled the parking lot, weaving between carts full of lumber and drywall.
What drew the police presence was a gaggle of around 15 volunteers, mostly of retirement age, who hoped to pass out fliers detailing a person’s rights in an encounter with immigration officers. Doing so in the Home Depot parking lot wasn’t going to fly: The guards told them it was private property, and they would have to leave or face arrest.
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Isaac Bloom, an organizer with the progressive group Indivisible who was running the meeting, promised they’d be on their way in a few minutes. He offered the cops some doughnuts from a box.
“We can’t count on the law anymore to do the right thing,” Bloom told the volunteers, recommending they pass the fliers out on public sidewalks near the store. “What we can do is actually try and document it, and leave it to the lawyers to try and push back. Beyond that, right now there’s not a lot that we can do.”
Home Depot has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown as the administration promises a record number of deportations. Co-founded by a Trump supporter and GOP megadonor, the big-box chain has long drawn immigrant laborers hoping to get hired by contractors or homeowners at the store.
“I’ve become increasingly concerned by the lack of due process – people being snatched up for no discernible legal reason.”
– Kathryn Loomans
The anti-immigrant Trump aide Stephen Miller told Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus their raids on Home Depot and 7-Eleven locations in order to boost arrests. Vans full of federal officers descended on a Home Depot in downtown Los Angeles last month, helping spur massive protests across the city.
Home Depot’s symbolism in the immigration fight is one reason the Service Employees International Union, which includes 2 million members, chose it as the site for dozens of “know your rights” meetings around the country on Tuesday. One of the union’s California leaders, David Huerta, was arrested in the LA ICE raids and charged with “conspiracy to impede an officer.”
A Home Depot spokesperson said the company doesn’t get a heads up on immigration raids and, “in many cases, we don’t know that arrests have taken place until after they’re over.” It also has a no-solicitation policy that bars the selling of services on its property.
“We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate,” the spokesperson said.
Kathryn Loomans, 71, said she came to the meeting in D.C. because she was disturbed by the Trump administration grabbing immigrants and sending them off to third-party countries without their day in court.
“I’ve become increasingly concerned by the lack of due process – people being snatched up for no discernible legal reason, taken away whether they’re citizens or not,” she said. “In many cases, they’re snatched by masked people and younger families may not even know where they’re taken.”
She headed to the Home Depot parking lot entrance to pass out fliers with another D.C. resident, Bill Mosley, 69.
“Migrants are the main target because they have fewer rights and fewer protections,” Mosley said. “I don’t think [Trump] is going to stop at them. I think they’re the first in line.”
Dave Jamieson for HuffPost
Many immigrants, documented or not, have grown fearful of gathering at Home Depots or other sites the administration might view as ripe for ICE raids. The crackdown appears to be delivering a blow to the economy in immigrant-heavy areas, as workers hunker down at home rather than venture out into their communities and spend money.
Yet many feel they have no choice but to go out and look for jobs.
A worker from El Salvador said he felt hassled by the private security guards outside Home Depot. He was just looking for a day’s pay and wasn’t bothering anyone, he said.
“I have to pay for rent. I have to pay for food,” said the man, who did not want to be named.
As he spoke, a security guard sat in her car just a few feet away. She honked her horn in an apparent effort to roust a worker who was dozing in a camp chair on a spit of grass. The man startled and stood up.
A woman who’d shown up for the know-your-rights meeting stopped by to introduce herself. Her name was Jackie Salas, and she was wearing a T-shirt that said “Due Process Freak.” She had flown in from Albuquerque to take part in some anti-Trump protests in D.C. when she heard about the Home Depot meetup and decided to check it out.
Salas said she figured she was at the right store when she saw several Home Depot employees standing outside the door watching the parking lot.
“But if you go into a Home Depot and you’re looking for something, you can’t find anyone,” she said.
A worker from Honduras said waiting for a job outside the Home Depot lot made him uncomfortable these days. Asked what brought him to the store that morning, he drew out his phone and scrolled through photos of his two daughters, ages 5 and 3.
Carpentry, masonry, roofing ― he was willing to do any of it.
“Who can stay in the house all day?” he said.
Correction: The original story suggested Bernie Marcus was the sole founder of Home Depot. In fact, he was a co-founder.