Parking lots outside Home Depot stores across the country that were once teeming with day laborers angling for work are now eerily quiet — a stark sign of how the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is reshaping the informal labor market.
In northern New Jersey, just a few men stood under the morning sun on Tuesday, where dozens used to gather, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Similar scenes played out in Los Angeles and Houston, where some Home Depot locations saw no workers at all. Security guards at two LA stores warned day laborers to stay on public sidewalks.
In Westlake, a heavily Latino neighborhood near downtown LA, one location was nearly deserted days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid swept through a nearby strip mall.
The ICE raids in LA have triggered widespread rioting and demonstrations in the downtown section of the city which houses federal buildings — prompting the Trump administration to call up thousands of National Guard troops and to deploy Marines.
The raids — part of a stepped-up effort by ICE to target undocumented workers — have upended a decades-old ecosystem that helped connect contractors and homeowners with ready labor.
According to local advocacy groups, raids occurred at multiple Home Depot sites in recent days, sparking protests and community backlash.
For years, Home Depot lots in major cities functioned as unofficial hiring halls. Though the company prohibits solicitation on its property, the practice became a mainstay for immigrant laborers — many undocumented — and contractors seeking cheap, flexible help.
The arrangement, while unsanctioned, proved mutually beneficial: jobs got done, bills got paid.
Martha Arévalo, executive director of the Central American Resource Center in Los Angeles, told the Journal that the recent raids have deeply shaken that balance.
Her organization, which operates a nearby support center, offers day laborers basic necessities and job training. But now, she said, foot traffic has all but vanished.
“We used to have hundreds of workers in that parking lot,” Arévalo said. “Now it’s just a handful. Eight were detained on Friday alone.”
The Westlake raid was one of several coordinated enforcement actions over the weekend, according to immigrant rights groups. In Pomona, Calif., a similar sweep led to the arrest of nine Guatemalan workers outside a Home Depot.
The move triggered a lawsuit and a federal judge intervened, halting the expedited removal of three men and raising constitutional concerns.
Home Depot told The Post it enforces a longstanding “no solicitation” policy at its stores and does not support informal labor activity on its premises.
“We aren’t notified when raids are going to happen, and we are not involved in the operations,” a company spokesperson said Wednesday.
“We ask our associates to report them immediately, to not engage with the activity and if associates feel uncomfortable after witnessing ICE activity, we offer associates the option to go home for the day with pay.”
Still, advocates like Arévalo argue the company has done little to engage with the communities it profits from.
“We’ve tried for years to collaborate with Home Depot on things like bathroom access and safety protocols,” she said. “But they’ve never made it easy.”
That hands-off stance has drawn criticism from all sides.
Immigration hardliners accuse the chain of looking the other way while undocumented workers solicit jobs. Meanwhile, labor advocates say the company should do more to protect a vulnerable group that indirectly supports its customer base — especially contractors who rely on day laborers for small-scale projects.
According to the Journal, the recent wave of raids was influenced by White House advisor Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s immigration policies.
Miller reportedly urged ICE to zero in on informal labor hubs like Home Depot parking lots and 7-Eleven stores, in a bid to send a chilling message.
“The entire Trump Administration is working towards the same goal: fulfill the President’s promise to deport illegal aliens,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.
“And if violent rioters attack federal law enforcement – like the illegal alien rioter who was just arrested for attempting to murder an officer – they will be held accountable. Everyone should support defending our heroic law enforcement officers.”
The Post has sought comment from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.
