Utah day laborers motivated by necessity as California counterparts face heightened scrutiny

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Day laborers in Utah acknowledge the risk of immigration enforcement action but say they keep at it because it's their form of livelihood.
Day laborers in California were focus of enforcement actions earlier this month, according to media reports.
Workers in Utah don't report an uptick in action by immigration officials but sometimes face monitoring by police.

SALT LAKE CITY — Even if day laborers at home improvement stores in California have been the focus of a seeming uptick in immigration enforcement action, Lester, an immigrant from Peru, says many like him won't be deterred.

"Even if there's widespread fear, we have to fight and go forward," he said Wednesday, waiting for work with several other day laborers in a grassy area outside a big box store in Salt Lake County. "You have to work. If they run me off, what do I do? Die of hunger? Steal?"

Nelson, an immigrant from Venezuela also waiting for work outside the retailer, offered similar sentiments. "There's no other option. Go out (and look for work) or you don't eat," said Nelson, who, like Lester, only provided his first name, worried about falling on the radar screen of immigration authorities.

President Donald Trump's increased moves to detain and deport immigrants in the United States illegally resulted in a flurry of enforcement action outside numerous Home Depot locations in California last week, which figured into protests by immigrants and their advocates that garnered national headlines.

The Los Angeles Times and other media outlets reported that immigration officials had carried out raids at Home Depot locations in Paramount, Whittier, Huntington Park and many other Southern California sites.

"The president has been incredibly clear. There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE's efforts," said Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that enforces U.S. immigration laws.

"Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation," she said.

Two day laborers outside a big box store in Salt Lake County on Wednesday. They say they keep at it despite the threat of immigration enforcement action out of necessity. (Photo: Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)

While mindful of the risks, however, day laborers in Utah, many of whom lack documentation to work legally in the country, say more powerful forces draw them to places like big box retailers — the need to work to generate income to survive. Those interviewed didn't provide their last names, like Lester and Nelson, given their uncertain migratory status.

"We have to come out. We have families, kids," said Wilson José, originally from Venezuela and seated with another Venezuelan, who identified himself as Wilson.

"We have to pay rent," Wilson said.

Luis Valentan, an organizer in Utah with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said some day laborers — typically seeking short-term work in landscaping and construction — have been using alternative means to seek out jobs. Still, they continue to show up outside big box retailers because they have few other work options.

"They're still going out there. This is the saddest thing. People came here with a dream of a better life, trying to survive the most honest way, which is standing in the corner and waiting for a job," Valentan said. "They're not doing nothing illegal. They're not hurting anybody."

Valentan has been reaching out to the workers as a show of support and to inform them of their rights in the event immigration officials confront them. They're not obliged to talk, he said, and shouldn't sign anything.

"It's your right not to respond to their questions. We're suggesting not to run but actually just being silent and then say, 'I don't want to respond to any of your questions,'" he said.

Those outside one home improvement store on Wednesday, meantime, aren't reporting raids by immigration authorities, at least for now. Local police, though, sometimes show up and monitor them.

"They park over there," said Wilson José, gesturing to a nearby parking area. "When they come, we leave."

Home Depot officials say their business doesn't have a role in enforcement actions.

"We aren't notified that ICE activities are going to happen; we're not requesting them, and we aren't involved in the operations," said Home Depot spokeswoman Beth Marlowe. "Like many businesses, we have a no-solicitation policy, which prohibits anyone from selling goods or services in our parking lots."

'We aren't less than them'

Underlying the day laborers' comments is a sense that their humanity is often overlooked and recognition of the scorn many feel for them. "People don't want us. It's understandable," said Nelson, not surprised at the backlash immigrants here illegally have faced.

At the same time, they cite the United States' historic role in accepting newcomers from around the world. "All of us are immigrants or have been at one point," Nelson said.

Jorge, also a day laborer, offered a defense of his colleagues. He's from Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, and as such is a U.S. citizen. "We aren't less than them. We're the same. We're better than them because we do the work they don't want to do," he said.

Likewise, Anderson, an immigrant from Venezuela, said he and his fellow day laborers fill a role in society. "We're providing a service for many people who come here," he said. "We're not doing anything bad."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.