PORTLAND, Ore.— “Behind every migrant worker is a family. A mother waiting for a call. Children waiting to see their father,” declared Voz worker Miguel to a crowd outside a Home Depot in Portland on Sept. 27. “They call us migrants, but we are also builders, farmers, parents. We are not a threat; we deserve to live without fear.”
Miguel was speaking at a rally attended by over 100 community members, along with three elected officials and numerous organizations. They gathered outside the Home Depot at Portland’s Mall 205 to support day laborers who’ve been forced off the parking lot by property management.
Pushing day laborers away from the store, where they have gathered for years, not only makes it harder for them to find work—it also makes them more susceptible to ICE attacks.
Day laborers asked organizers with the Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project to hold a public event after property management doubled down on their determination to remove workers. Mall 205 is claiming that it has always been its policy that people not congregate on the property, but day laborers say they have been at this parking lot for many years.
The primary movers behind the rally were Voz, the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition (PIRC), Indivisible, Defend Migrants Alliance, International Migrants Alliance, the day laborers themselves, with additional volunteers from other organizations, such as the Portland Club of the Communist Party USA and Singing Resistance.
For the past year, Voz and PIRC have been coordinating the Adopt-A-Corner project, which stations trained volunteers at areas where day laborers congregate in search of work. The goal is to deter ICE, a different tactic than that pursued by the Migra Watch program, which sends volunteers to document ICE activity once reported.
Adopt-A-Corner volunteers have been at for locations across Portland regularly, not just watching for ICE but also organizing food and resource delivery to families impacted by ICE attacks.
Though the campaign, day laborers were already in contact with Voz organizers and community volunteers when Mall 205 property management went on the offensive outside the Home Depot.
The three demands of the worker-led-rally were that Mall 205 meet directly with worker representatives and Voz, collaborate with workers to establish a safe and agreed-upon hiring area, and and allow workers to return and seek employment without retaliation.
These demands are repeated in a digital petition, which supporters can find here
Portland has drawn national attention due to protests against ICE, with viral frog costumes, yoga protests, threats from the fascist Trump administration to deploy the National Guard, and visits from high profile officials, including then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in late 2025.
The City Council has been vocal in opposing ICE, as immigration actions in Portland have led to a shooting, closure of the Cottonwood School due to chemical weapons used by ICE, tear gassing of labor organizers and children during a protest, separation of families due to ICE kidnappings, and more.
District 3 City Councillor Tiffany Koyama Lane, who is running for re-election attended the rally and spoke on ICE and Mall 205 property management. Lane said: “No worker should ever have to choose between putting food on the table and staying safe from harm. Labor rights are human rights…. Never again isn’t just a phrase we say about the past, it’s a directive of how we act today. To the management of Mall 205: Stop pushing workers into danger!”
Other speakers highlighted the importance of day laborers and condemned the actions of ICE.
Juan P., a worker, said, “Day laborers have been marginalized and undervalued, but they have never stopped working and have never stopped fighting.”
Oregon State Rep. Lamar Wise of District 48, who is also running for re-election, said, “If we live, work, or play here, we have to have earth other’s back…. Workers are not the enemy, that is ICE.”
Pushing back against the property management company and President Donald Trump, Voz executive director Karla Castaneda said: “This administration continues to push down day laborers and workers. We will stand with our community! Workers should not have to choose between being safe and making a living. No one should have to live in fear.”
After the rally, People’s World spoke with two Adopt-A-Corner volunteers from the CPUSA about why they got involved.
“I joined because migrants are an important part of my community and don’t deserve to be harassed, deported, or assaulted by government agents,” one said. “I want to help build a network that can support vulnerable community members with their real daily struggles.
“PIRC and Voz have been putting workers at the forefront and building and making connections for years and everyone should support their work as much as they can.”
The other CPUSA member interviewed volunteered because they “wanted day laborers to know that other workers support them and want to help them. It’s important because the day laborers have told me they feel safer when we are on the corner looking out for them.”
Related to this issue are the Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs, commonly known as Flock cameras) that have been installed in the Home Depot parking lot where the rally was held and which are popping up across the country.
While these were not the topic of the protest and Portland as a city does not have a contract with an ALPR company, these cameras are tracking every single vehicle that enters and exits the parking lot.
Law enforcement claims to only use ALPRs to track people who have committed crimes, but there are numerous instances of the data being used to stalk people, track someone down for having an abortion, raise insurance premiums, and more. It is difficult to believe, some rally-goers said, that ICE would not attempt to access the same data to track and detain civilians.
Rally organizers and day laborers are hopeful they’ll reach an agreement that allows workers to continue doing what they have been doing for years—finding work from contractors outside Home Depot.
Their petition has already sent hundreds of emails to property management. Interested readers can learn more and send their own message online.
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