Tag Archives: Eric Thayer

Style on Main: Home Depot Preps Staff as ICE Targets Over 30,500 Employees Nationwide

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Recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have targeted day laborers who congregate around Home Depot stores across the United States, disrupting a longstanding informal labor market. These raids are part of an intensified immigration enforcement campaign under the Trump administration, which aims to increase deportations beyond violent criminals to undocumented workers broadly.

Home Depot stores have become unique hubs where day laborers and contractors meet despite the company’s official policy against solicitation on its property. This informal system has provided mutual benefits for decades, but the recent ICE actions have created operational challenges and fear among workers and communities. Home Depot is now preparing its employees for potential encounters with ICE agents, emphasizing safety and reporting protocols as the raids unfolded nationwide.

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The ICE raids have instilled fear among immigrant workers, many of whom now avoid Home Depot parking lots. This has led to significant drops in day laborer presence and disruptions to local labor markets. Workers staying home out of fear affects business operations and local economies dependent on their labor.

Community backlash has included protests and public outcry following arrests near Home Depot locations, particularly in Latino communities. These enforcement actions have strained relations between immigrant communities, local businesses, and law enforcement, amplifying tensions and uncertainty.

Home Depot Preps Staff as ICE Targets Over 30,500 Employees Nationwide
TVM El Salvador – Facebook Recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have targeted day laborers who congregate around Home Depot stores across the United States, disrupting a longstanding informal labor market. These raids are
Home Depot Preps Staff as ICE Targets Over 30,500 Employees Nationwide

The Atlantic: Don’t Look at Stock Markets. Look at the Ports.

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Stock markets plunged for days after President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on imports from around the world. The sell-off ebbed only when he suspended most, but not all, of the new measures for 90 days. The ticker tape is just one indicator of an economy, and other signs are growing more and more ominous—including at the Port of Los Angeles, where high tariffs on China are crushing maritime traffic. “Essentially all shipments out of China for major retailers and manufacturers have ceased,” Eugene Seroka, the executive director of the port, said on April 24.

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The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest containerized-cargo port in the Western Hemisphere, processes about 17 percent of everything the United States imports or exports in shipping containers. The adjoining Port of Long Beach accounts for another 14 percent. Over the years, a whole ecosystem has arisen to support the loading and unloading of the cars, clothes, electronic gadgets, and other things that people want. There are workers and warehouses, trucks and loading pads, security structures and rail lines.

Seroka estimated that cargo arrivals would soon be down 35 percent over the same time last year. At the moment, the drop in traffic seems likelier to accelerate than to reverse. The number of cargo ships canceling port calls or entire voyages is on the rise. A number of shipments now under way were instigated before Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariff announcement, on April 2. According to Forto, a cargo-management and -tracking company, reservations for shipping products must normally be placed two weeks before a cargo vessel launches. The trip from China from California typically takes two or more additional weeks. In other words, the full effects of U.S. tariff policies on maritime traffic may not be apparent for some time.

Don’t Look at Stock Markets. Look at the Ports.
A drop in maritime traffic suggests that the worst is yet to come.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/don-t-look-at-stock-markets-look-at-the-ports/ar-AA1E6eR8