California Senator supports legislation requiring home improvement retailers to report immigration enforcement activity
California State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez introduced the REPAIR Act, SB 1103, legislation that would require large home improvement retailers, like Home Depot, to report immigration enforcement activity occurring on their properties and parking lots to federal immigration officials.
The senator held an afternoon news conference in the Monrovia Home Depot parking lot, the site where Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez died after fleeing from an ICE enforcement operation.
She said the REPAIR Act also calls for stores to disclose surveillance policies, data-sharing, and employee interactions with federal immigration authorities.
"Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez did not deserve what happened to him and we must continue to seek justice for him," Perez said, calling him a hardworking person, seeking work.
Valdez ran off from the Home Depot in August 2025, during a morning immigration operation as agents approached the store. He ran across the street and onto the eastbound 210 Freeway and was struck by a car. He later died at a hospital.
"What remains unclear is the role that these retailers are playing in facilitating immigration enforcement operations," she said. "There is little transparency about whether information is being shared or what level of cooperation may be occurring between these retailers and federal immigration authorities."
A Home Depot spokesperson responded on Friday, saying the company is not notified when immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and is not involved in the operations.
"We cannot legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies, including preventing them from coming into our stores and parking lots," a Home Depot spokesperson wrote in a statement.
"We aren't coordinating with ICE or Border Patrol, and we don't grant access to our license plate readers to federal law enforcement. These cameras are used for the purpose of detecting and preventing theft and protecting the safety of our customers and associates."
