STORY: A group of Home Depot investors is asking the company to review its partnership with a surveillance firm following media reports saying the firm's data has been used in Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations.
Digital publication 404 Media said ICE agents have used data from the company Flock Safety which was sent to them by local law enforcement.
Home Depot locations have become hotbeds for ICE arrests, after U.S. Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller said the agency should target the home improvement chain, where migrant day laborers are known to gather.
Zevin Asset Management, a sustainability-minded investor is leading a Home Depot shareholder proposal with 17 co-filers asking the retailer to evaluate and report the risks associated with sharing the surveillance data.
Zevin's proposal comes after a Walmart and Amazon shareholder asked the retailers for details on how the immigration crackdown is affecting their finances and supply chains...
and as protests erupt after the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
According to the proposal which was seen by Reuters, the investor group says it is concerned about financial and legal risks to Home Depot from misuse of customer data.
Home Depot has faced criticism for ICE raids in its store parking lots.
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A Home Depot spokesperson said: "We cannot legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies, including preventing them from coming into our stores and parking lots."
Like other retailers, Home Depot collects demographic information including age, race, ethnicity and gender from companies that provide services on its behalf for fraud prevention and other reasons.
The company said it discloses the information to "law enforcement, public and government authorities" that it considers "reasonably necessary."
Home Depot plans to hold its annual shareholder meeting in May.
