A Home Depot in Los Angeles is under fire for using high-pitched noise devices that critics say are making life miserable for day laborers who gather outside the store looking for work. The nonprofit Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA) says that three sound-emitting machines were installed on lampposts at the chain's Cypress Park store soon after a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid. Workers and advocates say the shrill tones cause headaches and nausea; one laborer told reporters the sound "penetrates your bones," and he now uses earplugs while waiting for jobs, per the Guardian.
At a news conference at the scene, IDEPSCA chief Maegan Ortiz accused the retailer of deploying the devices to drive workers away, noting, "We're not going to let sound machines, gates, and intimidation get rid of us." Los Angeles City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez said the devices "weaponize" sound and likened their use to torture. She also argued the machines appear to sit on land controlled by California's transportation department, not Home Depot. "This is the people's land," she said, criticizing what she described as public property being used to harm vulnerable residents.
Advocates said the devices were shut off during the press event but switched back on about an hour later. The store has become a focal point for immigration enforcement, according to IDEPSCA, which says about 50 people have been detained there this year, including a US citizen whose child was allegedly driven away in a car by ICE agents, per the Los Angeles Times.
In an emailed statement to the Guardian, a Home Depot spokesperson said the company uses "human and technology resources" to keep stores safe, though he denied it's cooperating with immigration raids: "We are not informed when these activities are going to happen, and we're in no way involved in the operations. We cannot legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies, including preventing them from coming into our stores and parking lots." The company adds that its Cypress Park location is different than its other sites, and that the noise machines are meant to discourage overnight parking, per KTLA.
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