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A Los Angeles city councilmember has openly opposed Home Depot’s plans to open a new location at Eagle Rock Plaza, claiming the home improvement retailer has been complicit with immigration enforcement operations.
In an Instagram post, Councilmember Ysabel Jurado wrote, “Take your orange aprons somewhere else,” citing a raid that occurred Thursday morning at Westlake Home Depot, one of several at that location since June. Jurado’s district spans from downtown to El Sereno and Eagle Rock.
Home Depot plans to demolish the former Macy’s department store in Eagle Rock Plaza to make space for its new location, The Eastsider reported.
On Thursday, surveillance video obtained by The Times shows federal agents arriving in several vehicles across from the Home Depot and CARECEN Day Labor Center, and immediately running after people, including vendors and day laborers.
As people scattered, federal agents can be seen deploying tear gas.
A man who was apprehended and pinned to the ground by federal officials was punched in the face, according to a statement by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
“We are disturbed by what can only be described as an act of terror and indiscriminate roundup of Latino street vendors, day laborers, and people who were going about their daily lives,” the organization stated.
At least eight to 15 people were arrested during the operation, according to CHIRLA.
This specific home improvement store on Wilshire Boulevard and South Union Avenue has been the site of four immigration operations since June 6, including “Operation Trojan Horse,” in which half a dozen border patrol agents jumped out of a Penske truck and arrested 16 people.
These raids, Jurado said, “are part of a disturbing pattern across Los Angeles, with ICE repeatedly targeting Home Depot parking lots — common gathering spots for day laborers — without judicial warrants, in clear violation of people’s rights.”
In her post, the councilmember accused Home Depot of “remaining silent.”
“When your name becomes associated with terror and you refuse to speak, you are complicit,” the post read. “Home Depot has chosen power and profit over the working people who sustain it.”
In a statement to The Times, Home Depot spokesperson Sarah McDonald said the company isn’t notified of planned ICE operations and “we’re not requesting them.” In many cases the company doesn’t know arrests happen until after they’re over, she said.
“We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate,” McDonald said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to the Times’ request for comment before publication.
Earlier this month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s block on “roving patrols” across much of Southern California. The ruling maintains a temporary restraining order barring masked and heavily armed agents from snatching people off the streets without first establishing reasonable suspicion that they are in the U.S. without documentation.
The excessive use of force that occurred during Thursday’s raid “and apparent disregard of community safety standards by federal agents is deeply disturbing, may be a violation of the TRO currently in place, and must be investigated,” CHIRLA stated.
On Friday, the East Area Progressive Democrats announced on Facebook that the group launched a #NoHomeDepot campaign to stop the retailer from opening a brick-and-mortar in the Eagle Rock Plaza.
Staff writer Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
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Karen Garcia
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