Immigrant-rights advocates planned a daylong “community stoppage” Tuesday with a 24-hour boycott of big-box retailers and rallies opposing a federal crackdown on illegal immigration in the Los Angeles area.
The protest was organized by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles, Service Employees International Union Local 721, Central American Resource Center of Los Angeles and the Garment Worker Center.
Events were scheduled throughout Tuesday to show support for individuals and families affected by immigration raids and arrests ongoing since June 6.
Organizers also called for boycotts of Home Depot, Target, Walmart and fast food restaurants. They said the boycotts aimed to demonstrate the economic influence of immigrant communities and to demand an end to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and the expansion of private detention centers.
The day of action was scheduled to begin with a midnight fast-food workers strike at a restaurant near MacArthur Park, followed by a second walkout at 5 a.m., then:
- 6 a.m. — “Take Back Our Park” coffee and breakfast at Park View Street and Wilshire Boulevard;
- 10 a.m. — Rally at MacArthur Park;
- Noon — SEIU 721-led procession from MacArthur Park to the LA County Board of Supervisors Hall of Administration; and
- 5 p.m. — Rally at Placita Olvera (Olvera Street), then a 5:30 p.m. program, a 6 p.m. march to the federal detention center and a 7:15 p.m. vigil.
“This is an action that will involve supporters or our community who dislike the way the federal government is overreaching and violating workers’ due process and rights,” Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, told City News Service. “This community stoppage is the precursor of more actions to come later in the year calling on the federal government to stop these racist raids.”
Walmart and Target did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Home Depot spokeswoman Beth Marlowe said the company is “not notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in them. In many cases, we don’t know that arrests have taken place until after they’re over. We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate,” Marlowe said in a statement.
“All Home Depot associates must confirm that they can legally work in the country where they’re being hired,” she added.
“These corporations whether implicitly or not have allowed their facilities to be used as places where federal agents violated workers’ rights and have inflicted pain and terror in our community and families,” Cabrera said. “These corporations benefit on a daily basis from our hard-earned dollars and yet remain silent in light of the attacks against Angelenos and workers.”
A federal judge in LA last month issued a temporary restraining order barring federal agents from stopping individuals in violation of the Fourth Amendment and requiring the government to provide detainees with access to attorneys.
The federal government appealed the ruling, but last week a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided not to place a stay on the temporary restraining order. The Trump administration has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The restraining order did not prevent recent raids at Los Angeles Home Depot stores.
LA-based U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli acknowledged ICE activity at a Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard that resulted in the arrest of approximately 16 individuals.
“For those who thought immigration enforcement had stopped in Southern California, think again,” Essayli posted on X. “The enforcement of federal law is not negotiable, and there are no sanctuaries from the reach of the federal government.”
Essayli said that operation last week was within the scope of reasonable suspicion.
Since aggressive enforcement operations started, federal agents have made a total of 4,163 arrests in the LA area, Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Friday to the Los Angeles Times.
