Protest at The Dalles Home Depot after in store immigration arrest shocks community
On December 3 three masked immigration agents entered a Home Depot in The Dalles and forcefully arrested a customer, prompting about 200 people to gather the next day to protest what advocates called an unprecedented enforcement action inside the store. The incident has heightened concerns among employees and immigrant workers about surveillance, company cooperation with authorities, and the safety of day laborers near Home Depot properties.
Three masked immigration agents entered the Home Depot in The Dalles on December 3 and forcibly arrested a customer inside the store, a moment captured on a bystander video that quickly circulated on social media. The next day about 200 people gathered outside the store to condemn the arrest, escalating long running tensions over immigration enforcement at big box retail sites and raising fresh questions for workers and managers.
Home Depot, the world s largest home improvement retailer with more than 2,300 North American stores, has largely stayed quiet as immigration arrests have occurred in and around its parking lots across the country amid the current federal crackdown. A manager at the The Dalles location told employees they were not allowed to comment after Saturday s incident. Evelyn Fornes, a public affairs manager at Home Depot, issued a brief statement distancing the company from federal operations. “We aren t notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and we aren t involved in the operations,” she said. “We aren t coordinating with ICE or Border Patrol.” Fornes would not clarify whether the company was presented with a judicial warrant.
Legal experts and activists note that agents generally need judicial warrants to carry out arrests on private property, and either the government acted without one or Home Depot cooperated with a warrant, advocates said. The family of the man arrested declined to be interviewed and immigration authorities did not respond to requests for comment. Witnesses described agents grabbing the man inside the store, and the footage has fueled calls for accountability.
The arrest has practical implications for workers and workplace dynamics. Employees who are immigrants may feel increased fear reporting to shifts or assisting customers. Day laborers and others who congregate near store entrances and parking lots worry their movements could be tracked by surveillance systems that capture license plate numbers, a capability many large retailers already use, and which critics say can be accessed by enforcement agencies. Organizers are urging Home Depot to publicly denounce warrantless enforcement on or near its properties and to adopt stronger protections for community members who rely on store parking areas to find work.
The episode adds pressure on local elected leaders and corporate managers to address how private surveillance and corporate policies intersect with federal immigration enforcement, and whether retail employers will take steps to protect vulnerable workers who pass through their doors and lots.
