'It penetrates your bones': Day laborers protest noise machines installed at Home Depot

[Zorro]

A pair of blue and yellow earplugs dangle on Jose’s neck while waiting for work as a day laborer out of the Home Depot in Cypress Park.

They’ve been a necessity for laborers in the area since late November, when Home Depot installed three machines in the parking lot that emit a high-pitched tone. The noise, typically kept on all day, is a piercing sound that “penetrates your bones,” he said.

The Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA), a nonprofit that supports day laborers, held a press conference at Home Depot Wednesday, calling for the company remove the machines and vocalize opposition to the ICE raids taking place in its parking lots, part of a growing number of protests targeting corporate cooperation with immigration enforcement.

Home Depot locations nationwide have been a prime target for ICE raids under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. In early November, ICE agents detained a man at the Cypress Park location and then drove off with his toddler in the back of the vehicle.

Around 50 people have been detained at the Cypress Park location this year, said Maegan Ortiz, IDEPSCA’s executive director. The machines are an attempt to push day laborers off its lots, she said.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-12-17/day-laborers-protest-noise-machines-home-depot

[Xavier Breath]

1. It's not an issue for the customers?

Or, does it take time before it bothers people?

[EdmondDantes_]

2. That's a weird choice for Home Depot to make

I assume they have to get some revenue from people coming to pick up day laborers, and presumably between the already very low crime rate of migrants and that with the ICE raids they have extra motivation to keep a low profile that the laborers aren't causing issues for Home Depot.

I wonder how localized such decisions are. The article talked about a Home Depot spokesperson, so I assume it's not a local store doing it on their own.

[MichMan]

3. I can't think of too many stores that would allow non affiliated solicitations on their property.

[Jack Valentino]

4. Maybe not, but it sounds like a violation of local noise ordinances in most communities...

[erronis]

5. The Guardian: Home Depot in LA installs noise machines that 'penetrate bones' to deter day laborers

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/18/home-depot-la-noise-machines-day-laborers

This is a crime against all of us.