By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — An immigration operation at a west Phoenix Home Depot is drawing new attention after activists say agents detained 10 people.
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Video from the scene shows several people in handcuffs. Protesters and day laborers returned to the location Monday.
Cell phone video shows detentions
Cell phone video shows men sitting on the side of the road surrounded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. In the video, a voice can be heard saying, “I hope your body camera’s on like it’s supposed to be.”
Clarissa Vela, leader of the Phoenix-based community group People First Project, which tracks immigration enforcement, said the operation happened early Saturday morning.
“I asked the workers, they said they took 10 people and they had just left,” Vela said.
“Another one of the workers told me that they were dressed as day workers and some of them were dressed as unhoused people,” Vela said.
Activists say tactics, location aren’t new
Activists say the tactics used in the operation are not new, and neither are enforcement actions at Home Depot locations.
“This time it was this Home Depot on 43rd [Avenue],” said Erika Andiola, political director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
More than 48 hours later, Andiola was back in the parking lot, saying people should be able to visit the store without fear of being detained.
“It is important to continue to remind Home Depot as a corporation that they do have the power to ensure that customers feel safe going into their store,” Andiola said.
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Federal data on arrests
The Trump administration has repeatedly maintained that it is targeting high-threat individuals and removing those with criminal records.
“Every single day we have the worst of the worst that we’re arrested from… rapists, murderers, gangbangers, drug traffickers, and the list goes on and on and on,” said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
However, federal data appears to challenge that claim. The federal government reported making nearly 51,000 immigration-related arrests last month, setting an all-time monthly record for the third consecutive month. Many of those arrested had no criminal convictions, pending charges, or identified gang affiliations.
People on the ground say those detained at the Phoenix store on Saturday do not fit the administration’s description.
“They were actually just workers who came to buy here from the store and ICE was waiting for them and they went ahead and arrested them as they came out of the store,” Andiola said. ”Not only that, they drove down towards the end of the parking lot and took several workers who were there just waiting for a job to be able to work.”
Tracking enforcement for accountability
Arizonans tracking immigration agents hope their efforts will lead to more accountability. The founder of the People First Project said many people monitoring these operations are women whose loved ones, friends, and family members have been detained.
ICE has not publicly released details about the operation.
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