Day of Action: LA groups stage daylong boycott, protest over federal immigration actions

Hundreds of people gathered at MacArthur Park on Tuesday to protest recent federal immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles.

The demonstration was part of a 24-hour “Day of Action” planned by immigrant rights advocates and labor unions, including a boycott of Home Depot, Penske, Target and fast food restaurants.

It’s in response to a recent spate of high-profile immigration sweeps across Los Angeles, despite a court order temporarily halting indiscriminate raids in the region. President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to lift that order.

The most prominent recent immigration action happened not far from MacArthur Park last week, when federal agents jumped out of a Penske truck in the Westlake Home Depot parking lot and detained 16 people, most of them day laborers or street vendors. Homeland Security called it “Operation Trojan Horse” and responded to claims that the action defied the court order by saying it was “targeted.”

The coalition behind the day of protests said that companies like Penske and Home Depot haven’t done enough to speak out against the federal government’s actions.

“If you can’t join us today,  don’t shop today, period. Especially these big corporations that haven’t spoken out against these raids,” said Simboa Wright, vice president of SEIU 721, which represents 100,000 public service workers in Southern California. “Don’t use our money that we work hard for to support them when they don’t support us.”

Last week, Penske Truck Rental said in a statement that it “strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances,” and that it would reach out to Homeland Security to “reinforce its policy.”

Home Depot spokesperson Beth Marlowe said in a statement that the company isn’t notified when immigration enforcement is going to happen and isn’t involved in the operations.

How immigration enforcement has impacted L.A.

Since June 6, ICE and Border Protection have made 4,163 arrests in the L.A. area, according to Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. The Los Angeles Times reported last week that the majority of those arrests took place in the first month, and that the number of arrests had dropped in recent weeks.

MacArthur Park has become one of the most visible targets of the Trump administration since it started ramping up immigration enforcement. Last month, masked and armed federal agents descended on the area in a convoy. Some rode on horseback through the park, disrupting a summer camp for children and a healthcare clinic.

“This is our park,” Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA told the crowd Tuesday. “We’re taking our park, we’re taking our city back. We’re reclaiming our power and we are saying to you ‘Your terror will not stop us.’”

Many at the park had been affected directly by the presence of ICE in Los Angeles.

Francisco Tzul, who works in the garment district, said many of his coworkers are too afraid to come to work and he was there to show support for them. Fidel Gonzales said he sometimes picks up work at the day labor center at the same Home Depot that was targeted last week. He said he usually works at banquet halls, but that a lot of that work has dried up since the ICE activity began.

Gonzales said he was glad to see protesters assembled.

“We fight united, and we’re not alone,” he said. “The more people that come, the better.”

A woman named Reyna, who only gave her first name, said she was there because her son is currently detained at the Adelanto Detention Center after being picked up at a construction site in Oxnard five months ago. She heard about the protest and came to express her outrage.

“Even before I gained my citizenship, I used to protest. And now that I am a citizen, I will do so even more,” she said through an interpreter.

Raul Hernandez, an 18-year-old who said he walked out of his job at Subway as part of the day of action, recalled how his friend’s father was detained in a Home Depot parking lot, and his girlfriend’s childhood friend was deported to Guatemala.

“I have family and friends that are scared,” he said. “It’s pretty sad. They can’t go out with their family, or if they go out, they’re worried.”

Rallies were slated to continue throughout the day and end outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles Friday evening.