ICE Suspected in Unexplained Detentions of Day Laborers at Concord Home Depot
Unmarked vehicles entered the Concord Home Depot parking lot on Wednesday morning and took at least four day laborers, according to witnesses cited by the Concord Immigrant Protections Network. The people in the vehicles were reportedly wearing patches marked 'ERO', which are the initials for ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division.
A witness who recorded the incident told advocates that four or five day laborers were taken into unmarked SUVs. As of Thursday, the workers' names and whereabouts remained unknown to advocates.
Home Depot released a statement saying they 'can't legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies', but also denied coordinating with ICE or Border Patrol. Meanwhile, around three dozen advocates protested outside the store on Thursday, calling on Home Depot to denounce immigration raids at its stores and urging Concord officials to do more to protect immigrants.
The incident has raised questions about which agency was involved in the detentions, as both ICE and the advocacy group cited conflicting information. The Concord Immigrant Protections Network's coordinator, Brian Ibarra, stated that witnesses believed the people in the vehicles were federal agents, but neither ICE nor Home Depot would confirm their involvement.