Woke California city goes to war with Home Depot
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West Hollywood’s city council voted this week to take Home Depot off its approved list of companies to do business with — driven by anger over the Trump administration’s deportation agenda.
The liberal Los Angeles enclave is setting up a potential clash with the popular chain over allegations it has assisted Immigration and Customs Enforcement in targeting illegal migrants.
“The one vendor I would like to remove is Home Depot because of their cooperation with ICE immigration enforcement,” Councilmember Chelsea Byers said at a meeting Monday, according to the WeHo Times.
Home Depot’s removal from the city’s approved list of cooperative purchasing vendors does not necessarily bar the city from doing business with it. Instead, city government can no longer automatically buy supplies from the retailer without going through a standard competitive bidding process.
The other companies on the list can do business with West Hollywood and skip any lengthy bidding processes, as they’ve already been vetted by other public agencies.
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City Manager Jackie Rocco agreed to examine the city’s relationship with Home Depot more closely, and Mayor John Heilman asked city staff to evaluate the impact of removal and prepare options for next steps.
“I know there are concerns about one particular vendor,” Rocco said.
Before the removal, West Hollywood would have authorized purchases up to $25,000 from Home Depot.
The home-improvement chain has adamantly denied having a relationship with ICE and said it even instructs employees to not engage with active law enforcement operations.
Still, the company faced criticism for videos showing ICE agents targeting day laborers who gather in the stores’ parking lots, which have become hotbeds for immigration enforcement activity. Questions have been raised over whether Home Depot shares data with ICE, though the company denies the claims.
The company has said it can’t control what happens on its parking lots.
“Because our stores and parking lots are publicly accessible, law enforcement agents do not require a warrant to enter these areas,” Home Depot says on its website. “We comply with all applicable federal and local laws in every community where we do business.”