Sadly, corporate wokeism is still alive and well, something we saw play out this week in the aftermath of an immigration sweep that occurred at a Home Depot in Los Angeles.
Video shared on social media from Fox News reporter Matt Finn, who was embedded with the immigration enforcement team, showed federal agents emerging from a large truck, which Finn noted was a Penske truck, to canvas the Westlake location’s parking lot on Wednesday after dawn broke for illegal immigrants:
One video shows some of those arrested being put in a van, not the Penske truck:
Per DHS, 16 illegal immigrants were taken into custody during the round-up:
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday carried out an immigration raid dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse” in Los Angeles that resulted in multiple arrests.
What we know: The operation happened around 7 a.m. in the area surrounding a Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard near MacArthur Park.
Video shows several agents bursting from the rear of a Penske moving truck, then running toward a group of people near a sidewalk food stand. The crowd scattered when they saw the federal agents. A DHS spokesperson confirmed 16 undocumented migrants from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua were detained.
As Legal Insurrection previously reported, the drug-infested MacArthur Park was the scene of a massive joint immigration enforcement operation last month in an area that, as noted above, is known to have a significant MS-13 presence. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) even paid the area a visit in a failed attempt to get the agents to pull back at the time.
Regarding the Home Depot parking lot sweep, outrage, of course, ensued among the Usual Suspects, with local “leaders” and pro-illegal immigration groups denouncing the actions from DHS:
The Office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass decried the raids and stipulated that such federal actions are prohibited by a recent court ruling.“For months federal agents have been masking themselves and now they’re using rental trucks to conduct their seemingly discriminatory raids – these tactics are dangerous,” the Mayor’s Office said in a statement. “The Federal court of appeals made clear that it is unconstitutional in this country to racially profile people and snatch them from worksites. The City is gathering information about these reported raids and considering all legal options. Tactics like this are un-American and we will never accept these terrorizing ploys as a new normal.”The United Farm Workers said the labor union is also worried about a possible violation of the court’s order.“While more investigation is needed, we have serious concerns that the federal govt may be in violation of the federal judge’s July TRO,” the union wrote on social media.
Penske Truck Rental, too, issued a statement, noting that “The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this. Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.”
Needless to say, that… did not go over well with people who pointed out that Penske doesn’t appear to have released any statements when their trucks have been used to haul illegal immigrants into and around the country:
Article III Project senior counsel Will Chamberlain also tackled the legal side of things:
I’m seeing a lot of people saying that Penske is doing this for liability reasons.NONSENSE. Every time you rent a car/truck you sign a contract saying you won’t do stuff like this and expressly waiving liability/indemnifying if someone is injured via improper use of the vehicle. There’s no way that this event could have somehow made Penske vulnerable to suit.This is just an idiotic liberal comms team thinking that they need to appease a few rabid open borders types by insulting the administration most of their customers voted for.
Is it time for Penske to be “Bud Lighted”? Prof. Jacobson has thoughts:
U-Haul or Ryder, anyone?
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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