On Feb. 6, Assemblymember Jessica Caloza held a press conference addressing what she described as an alleged eviction notice planned by Home Depot against the Cypress Park Job Center, which operates in the same parking lot as the store.
Caloza was joined by Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and Maegan Ortiz, executive director of Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA), the organization that runs the Cypress Park Job Center.
Representatives from several community organizations were also present, including the UCLA Labor Center, Los Angeles Tenants Union, East Area Progressive Democrats, California Coalition for Worker Power and the Pilipino Workers Center.
“I stand before you today outraged, quite frankly pissed at the negligence of Home Depot and their negligence to protect our immigrant communities,” Caloza said. “Late yesterday, we were alerted that Home Depot is planning to send an eviction notice today, Friday … Home Depot has been blowing me up, my office up, spreading lies, saying that this was just a simple misunderstanding. We are done with Home Depot’s lies. We are so f—– done.”
In an emailed statement sent after the press conference, Home Depot spokesperson George Lane denied the allegation.
“This is false. There are no plans or discussions about evicting IDEPSCA,” the statement said.
The Cypress Park Job Center has operated in the Home Depot parking lot for more than 30 years, providing a designated space for day laborers to seek work and access services. According to city records, the arrangement comes from Los Angeles City Ordinance No. 180174, which requires large home improvement stores to provide on-site shelters for workers. In exchange for complying with the ordinance, Home Depot was allowed to expand and open more locations in LA.
During the press conference, Hernandez said Home Depot has previously attempted to remove day laborers from the area.
Last year, Home Depot installed noise-emitting machines at the location, which, according to published reports, caused some health issues for day laborers. The devices drew a lot of criticism, and when asked about the machines, Home Depot initially said they were intended to deter illegal overnight parking and encampments. A store employee later said the devices were meant to deter birds, and the company ultimately said they were part of several initiatives addressing “specific operational challenges.”
“It’s another case of Home Depot exposing itself as a complicit corporation, willing to profit off immigrant labor but unwilling to stand with immigrant workers,” Hernandez said. “Home Depot has been looking for any excuse to push day laborers out.”
In addition to elected officials, members of several organizations spoke against Home Depot and recent federal enforcement activity in the area. Attendees were heard chanting “Boycott Home Depot,” shouting “mentirosos,” the Spanish word for “liars,” and calling to “Abolish ICE.”
“We aren’t notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in the operations. We aren’t coordinating with ICE or Border Patrol,” Home Depot said in an emailed statement. “We cannot legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies, including preventing them from coming into our stores and parking lots.”
Executive Director of the Pilipino Workers Center, Aquilina Soriano, said her organization joined the press conference to emphasize the importance of coalition efforts in addressing worker and immigrant rights issues. The Pilipino Workers Center focuses on worker and immigrant justice, particularly for Filipino caregivers vulnerable to wage theft and labor trafficking.
“It’s important for us to actually speak up for each other and to come together,” Soriano said. “The targeting of immigrants is not just about one organization, and it’s not just about one industry or one community. It really impacts all of us.”
Soriano explained that the primary goal of the boycott is to pressure Home Depot to change its approach toward immigrant workers and the job center.
“It’s actually just heartbreaking to see the greed that Home Depot has and the lack of gratitude that it has for the community that’s been supporting and making it a successful business for so many years,” she said. “The immigrant community is foundational to the community.”
She said organizers want Home Depot to stop cooperating with federal immigration enforcement and to publicly stand with immigrant workers.
“If they’re not going to support the community, we want them to know that the community is not going to support them,” Soriano said.
For now, Caloza and participating organizations said the immediate goal of the press conference was to stop the eviction. They added that they will continue to boycott Home Depot until the company demonstrates support and provides resources and safe spaces for the communities and workers who help sustain its business.