Protesters Call Out Home Depot, Hendrick for Empowering CBP Crackdown
'These are the livelihoods of immigrants, of families, of children'
As detainments continue to climb in the fifth day of the Customs & Border Protection’s (CBP) mass deportation operation in the city, community members have begun calling out corporations they say are empowering the federal government’s heavy-handed tactics.
Led by Indivisible CLT, more than 100 people protested outside The Home Depot on Wendover Road in east Charlotte Wednesday morning, calling on the company to stop allowing agents with the Department of Homeland Security — which includes CBP and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) — onto its properties to carry out operations against immigrants.
Home Depot has been a hotspot for ICE and CBP actions across the country this year, with multiple arrests reported at different locations in Charlotte this week, including the Wendover location. The company has said management is not notified of enforcement activities and is not involved, but activists want them to take more proactive action to protect its customers.
Zamara Saldivar with Carolina Migrant Network (CMN) said she and fellow organizers attempted to meet with store management to pass along a piece of paper that lists CMN’s requests for how the company can mitigate enforcement efforts on its property.
“They told us, ‘This is private property,’ they asked us to leave. We expect them to do the same with CBP and ICE. Clearly, they have that power to tell them, ‘Hey, this is private property,’ … And I feel like Home Depot has a responsibility to, just like they told us to leave, to tell CBP and ICE, again, that they can leave. That’s all that we’re asking.”
Residents and social media users have also called for a boycott of the Hendrick Companies, including Charlotte-based auto dealer Hendrick Automotive Group, after it’s been revealed that Hendrick Motorsports Technical Solutions fulfilled an emergency order for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the summer for vehicles to be used in the immigration crackdown.
Hendrick Motorsports Technical Solutions, a manufacturing arm of NASCAR powerhouse company Hendrick Motorsports, sold 25 Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs to DHS for a total of $1.5 million. The contract was completed on Aug. 21, according to government records.
“Just like Home Depot, hearing the news out about Hendrick, it’s just disheartening to know that they support what ICE and CBP are doing to a vulnerable community when all they’re trying to do is make a living,” said Salvidar.
“They say they’re out there to get criminals but that’s not happening. They’re racially profiling even citizens,” she continued. “There’s no one at my daughter’s school; only half of the kids have been going. I just think these corporations have a responsibility to stand by us. We are a large portion of the people who are buying their vehicles.”
Charlotte City Council District 5 rep-elect JD Mazuera Arias, who will represent the district where the Home Depot is located after he’s sworn in on Dec. 1, was at the protest Wednesday morning. He explained to Queen City Nerve that he hoped to not only put pressure on the businesses who are supportive of or enabling the CBP’s operation but also inspire those corporations that support immigrants to step up in a time of need.
Mazuera Arias called back to the days of House Bill 2, when corporations disinvested from North Carolina in response to the North Carolina General Assembly passing anti-transgender legislation.
“I ask myself, where is that bravery and courage that corporations had back then? Where is it today?” he said. “I think about the small businesses that have closed down on Central Avenue, Sharon Amity, South Boulevard, Albemarle Road, WT Harris. They’re in desperate need right now. We’re trying to find different avenues to find that corporate charitable giving to help those businesses stay open.
“These are the livelihoods of immigrants, of families, of children,” he continued. “Where are [those corporations] now? I think they might be hesitant of political repercussions and consequences, but this moment calls for bold and brave action to protect the same people that contribute to their profits.”
Read more: CBP Expected to Remain in Charlotte Until Friday
Carolyn Eberly, founding director of Indivisible CLT, which helped organize the march, said the protest was meant to make people aware so they can make informed decisions through purchasing power.
“These corporations are helping this horrible thing continue, and so by making people aware of this, we are allowing these corporations to be under the spotlight and letting people know that, hey, you can use your dollars to affect the corporation’s bottom line once they are exposed,” Eberly said. “[We’re] letting them know that they are a pillar of the community that needs to respond to the community and the wishes of the community.”
