In a unique form of protest, anti-ICE activists converged on a Home Depot location, purchasing 17-cent ice scrapers only to return them immediately, thereby creating a backlog of transactions intended to disrupt store operations.

Approximately 100 protesters assembled at the Monrovia, Los Angeles Home Depot on a recent Saturday, participating in what they called a ‘buy-in.’ Similar demonstrations were organized at other Home Depot locations, including those in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Burbank, California.

Participants queued up to buy the inexpensive item, then rejoined the line to return it shortly afterward, making the protest’s impact felt through repeated transactions.

Erika Andiola, serving as the political director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, explained to the LA Times that the goal was to urge Home Depot to ‘scrape ICE out of their stores.’

This demonstration follows a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations that have targeted Home Depot locations nationwide.

In Southern California, Home Depot stores have traditionally served as informal gathering points for day laborers seeking work, regardless of their legal status. These sites have increasingly drawn the attention of immigration enforcement officers.

Home Depot was reportedly mentioned as a target for immigration raids by Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and chief architect of Trump’s immigration policies, earlier this year.

At least a dozen Home Depot stores have been targeted, some of them repeatedly, in Southern California since the administration stepped up its immigration crackdown.

Anti-ICE demonstrators gathered at Home Depot to stage a bizarre protest which involved buying and returning 17c ice scrapers to clog up the store with nuisance orders

Anti-ICE demonstrators gathered at Home Depot to stage a bizarre protest which involved buying and returning 17c ice scrapers to clog up the store with nuisance orders

Bobbi Althoff, a social media influencer who is best known for her deadpan interviews with A-listers on TikTok, publicly revealed last month that her family friend Felix Morales Gomez had been arrested in one of the Home Depot raids.

Althoff said she and her family have known Gomez her whole life and claimed he came to the United States in 2004. 

She acknowledged he was an illegal migrant but said he had no criminal convictions, and said he was waiting in the parking lot to try and find construction work to support his family when he was detained by ICE. 

‘Going up to car washes, and Home Depots – you’re taking hard working people away, people who are not criminals who have not done anything wrong here,’ she said.

Trump had vowed to rid America of the ‘worst of the worst’ criminal offenders, however the Department of Homeland Security has faced backlash for seemingly targeting low-hanging fruit in order to boost their daily deportation numbers.

The protesters on Saturday wore makeshift aprons which read ‘ICE out of Home Depot’, while others used orange buckets from the stores as drums as they marched around. 

‘Whether the corporation wants to admit it or not, Home Depot has become ground zero for this cruel, vicious immigration enforcement that’s taking place in our country,’ Pablo Alvarado, NDLON’s co-executive director, said.

But Home Depot’s manager of corporate communications, George Lane, argued that the company does not ‘coordinate with ICE or Border Patrol, and we’re not involved in the operations.

Home Depot was reportedly mentioned as a target for immigration raids by Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and chief architect of Trump’s immigration policies, earlier this year

The effort comes on the back of multiple Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operations which have taken place at Home Depots across the nation

Althoff (right) slated Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for arresting her longtime friend Felix Morales Gomez (left) last month

‘We aren’t notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and often, we don’t know operations have taken place until they’re over.

‘We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.’

Day laborers who seek work outside Home Depot stores ‘want people to come out to shop, so they can get work,’ Andiola said.

So the buy-in’s objective was to prove to the company that day laborers are beneficial and contribute financially to the business overall.  

‘This was the way for us to still impact their business and at the same time, give the message that they need to get ICE out of their stores,’ Andiola said.

Members of the protest also set up two altars equipped with 24 white crosses each, so represent each of the people who have this year died as a result of immigration raids or while detained.

The protest at one stage blocked access to cars trying to enter the front of the store. 

It comes less than a month after reports emerged that Trump’s handpicked border czar Tom Homan, along with his right-hand man, ICE Director Todd Lyons, are at odds with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem over her approach to tackling the illegal immigration crisis.

At least a dozen Home Depot stores have been targeted, some of them repeatedly, in Southern California since the administration stepped up its immigration crackdown

Pictured: Federal agents detain a man in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Chicago

Home Depot stores in Southern California have long been an informal job-seeking hub for day laborers in the country both legally and illegally. Now the locations have become a prime target for immigration agents

Homan and Lyons allegedly want to pour their resources into tracking down convicted criminals who are living in the United States illegally, as well as people who have already been served final deportation orders.

Their targeted approach to removing the worst of the worst has frustrated Noem, along with her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, according to Fox News.

Noem is instead instead advocating for a broader and more aggressive approach in an effort to boost the number of reportable deportations each day.

She has made a point to share statistics of successful deportations amid pressure from Trump to rid America of as many as 1,500 illegal immigrants per day.

ICE falls under the DHS remit, which is run by Noem, but Trump specifically appointed Homan as his ‘border czar’ when he returned to office as part of his pledge to clamp down on immigration.

Homan previously served as acting ICE director, and Trump said ‘Homan will be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.’ 

According to the DHS, since Trump returned to office as many as two million illegal immigrants have been removed or opted to self deport.

An estimated 400,000 have been rounded up and deported, while 1.6million have left the country of their own volition.