1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

There is a human rights crisis happening at our local home improvement stores. Stephen Miller and Donald Trump have made clear that big home improvement stores, and Home Depot in particular, is to be targeted to rack up arrests and advance mass deportations. And for over a year, our day laborer community, customers and neighbors have suffered arrests and abuses committed by militarized and masked agents. These raids by ICE and Border Patrol that racially profile Latinos and endanger everyone, are literally intended to cause chaos, confusion and fear. Meanwhile, Home Depot has done nothing to mitigate the crisis, and refused to come clean about what they know about the raids. That is why NDLON, Senator Perez and the California Senate have advanced a landmark bill, the REPAIR Act (SB 1103, Sen. Pérez) to require Home Depot and other big-box home improvement stores to share information with the public about raids and arrests taking place on their properties. In the face of a national human rights crisis taking place at these stores, it is a modest but critical step forward. Doing nothing about these raids at these specific stores is no longer an option. Despite the risks, day laborers are showing up to work and to support each other. Community members and customers are showing up to protect their neighbors. Lawmakers need to show up. And the Home Depot needs to show up and do something. Those affected include workers and homeowners trying to rebuild after the LA fires, and families trying to find and support loved ones after ICE arrests and incidents of abuse. These incidents have resulted in devastating consequences, including the loss of life, like Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez who passed away fleeing an immigration raid in Monrovia, California. The lack of information - and even the most basic response from these stores - about these incidents and these abuses is of major concern for these workers, these families, and for public safety at large. We appreciate your concern for this issue, and we hope you will join us in supporting SB1103 and ensure it advances smoothly out of your Committee and onward to the Governor’s desk.