What would have been a normal day waiting for work turned into a worst-case scenario for several day laborers who were detained by federal immigration agents outside of a Home Depot in Pomona.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that they were targeting one person with an active arrest warrant and during the operation nine additional undocumented people were taken into custody. Local activists for day laborers and immigration rights wonder if it foreshadows a tougher immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.
“They look for work every day. They are under employed. They are over exploited,” said Alexis Teodoro, Director of Worker Rights for Pomona Economic Opportunity Center (PEOC). “Our day laborers from Pomona, helped clean the fires in LA County [...] So why target the community that is going to help rebuild Los Angeles? Why attack them?”
“It’s absolutely immoral, and it makes no sense.”
Their group, PEOC, is doing what it can to help the day laborers who were detained.
“We provide them legal resources and representation, and to make sure that they’re released, because, again, we’re looking for work, and in this country day labor is not a crime,” Teodoro said.
In response to yesterday’s Home Depot raid, a few dozen Pomona residents and activists gathered to demand the release of the day laborers. PEOC was instrumental in organizing this rally. The organization responded quickly, condemning Border Patrol for their actions.
Teodoro said, “This is not the first operation that we’ve responded to, but this is the first operation that is the biggest raid so far in our region. It has been more than a decade since a raid has happened in Pomona, targeting the day laborers, and it seems like we’re going back 20 years now with the unscrupulous behavior of the Trump administration and Customs and Border Patrol.”
Teodoro says both the City of Pomona and Home Depot neither confirm nor deny their involvement in the raid and are so far unwilling to give the answers they seek. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which carried out the raid, hasn’t responded although the Department of Homeland Security did release a statement that said the raid was targeted. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said ICE was not involved.
For now, PEOC is trying to secure legal resources for the detainees and their families, as well as, urging government officials to ensure that the workers’ constitutional rights are respected.
Teodoro said, “To all the local mayors and city councils across Southern California, this is a time to pass policies and resources for immigrant rights organizations.”
Teodoro explained that PEOC is committed to ensuring that working day labor is safe, “There are several Home Depots across the country, that we have really cool relationships with that they designate a service space in their parking lot for day laborers to look for work free of harassment from the police.”
The Pomona raid will likely worry many people, especially in the area considering Southern California has the largest population of undocumented immigrants in the country. These raids incite fear within communities, but day laborers and other immigrants who may be targeted should know that they have rights.
Resources such as red cards are available to help individuals know how to respond when approached by law enforcement. Online resources are available online, including on the website for the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, these can help people identify unmarked vehicles and report imminent raids.
Today the aftershock of yesterday’s raid remains. And people are wondering what could happen tomorrow.