For Immediate Release // Please Excuse Cross Posting
Friday, March 6th, 2026
Contact: Palmira Figueroa, 425-301-2764; pfigueroa@ndlon.org
Border Wall Shipping Container Repurposed to Promote Community Safety at Home Depot locations hit by ICE raids
Los Angeles, CA — After unveiling the Peace Depot outside the Wilshire Home Depot in MacArthur Park, day laborers and community members spent the morning cleaning, beautifying, and protecting the surrounding streets—keeping a watchful eye for ICE raiders while picking up trash and improving the neighborhood where they gather daily for work.
During the cleanup, Chris Newman, legal director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), was handcuffed by police, raising concerns about how the store responds even when workers are engaged in peaceful acts to improve the area.
The cleanup followed the unveiling of the Peace Depot, a shipping container transformed into a symbol of peace, justice, and mutual aid. Inspired by the principle “solo el pueblo salva el pueblo” (“only the people save the people”), the installation highlights how day laborers and neighbors support one another during times of fear and uncertainty.
Organizers say the incident reflects a consistent dynamic: while workers help make the area cleaner and safer, Home Depot relies on surveillance cameras and enforcement that can criminalize the same community members.
“In a time when cruelty, fear, and division are being imposed on local communities from the White House, day laborers continue to unify and respond with inspiring acts of mutual care,” Chris Newman said. “In this moment of crisis, leadership is coming from everyday people on street corners from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. The mobile PEACE DEPOT will move from place to place, connecting and strengthening communities bound together by shared values.”
The Peace Depot is not The Home Depot, a name at risk of forever being associated with ICE raids — with the lawless assaults and arrests of immigrant workers by the Trump Administration that the Home Depot company silently and shamefully tolerates on its properties. NDLON continues to call on everyone — businesses, elected officials, residents, neighbors — to take active measures to protect each other’s safety and build communities that are peaceful for everyone.
Coverage from the action can be found here.
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