SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One year after Carlos Roberto Montoya was struck and killed while fleeing an immigration enforcement operation at a Southern California Home Depot, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network is renewing calls for California lawmakers to pass SB 1103, known as the Repair Act.
The National Day Laborer Organizing Network, or NDLON, issued a press release Wednesday calling for lawmakers to pass SB 1103 to honor the anniversary of Montoya’s death.
According to a CNN article from August of last year, Montoya fled “as an immigration raid unfolded at a Home Depot in Southern California.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, denied in a statement to CNN that agents were chasing Montoya, saying he was “not being pursued by any DHS law enforcement.”
Despite ICE not attempting to pursue Montoya, he still fled across the highway to escape the operation.
“He was heading north across eastbound Interstate 210 when he stepped in front of an SUV going about 60 mph in the far-left lane,” a local officer said, as reported by CNN.
After being struck, Montoya “suffered major injuries and died at a hospital.”
NDLON, according to its mission statement, aims to improve “the lives of day laborers, migrants and low-wage workers” so that “they can challenge inequality and expand labor, civil and political rights” for themselves and others.
NDLON was the organization that originally identified Carlos Roberto Montoya after he was struck on the highway.
“On the one-year mark of the death of Mr. Carlos Roberto Montoya,” the organization is demanding that “members of the California Assembly” advance a bill that would compel big-box stores to report ICE activity that occurs at their stores.
The Repair Act, known as SB 1103, has gone through several iterations and is currently available on the California State Legislature’s website. The bill requires “retail stores” in California “to provide the Attorney General with copies of specified documentation related to immigration enforcement activity,” such as “copies of any video footage,” with an appropriate warrant from the state.
NDLON believes the bill is an appropriate response to politicians such as “Trump and Stephen Miller” consistently targeting “these stores to round up suspected immigrants.”
“SB1103 promotes transparency and accountability, helping businesses create safer, more trusted environments for workers, consumers, and the communities they serve,” a spokesperson for Sembrando Semillas Day Laborer Worker Center said. “No worker or customer should have to fear that a routine trip to work or a store could put their safety and security at risk.”
While the legislation takes no direct action against ICE or other federal agencies, NDLON believes the bill addresses at least one part of the issue.
“The legislation addresses community concerns that the lack of cooperation and transparency by major stores has contributed to the misinformation, chaos and fear caused by the raids,” the press release states.
And while this specific anniversary marks an event that took place a year ago, ICE raids at stores such as Home Depot have not stopped.
“On July 29, 2026, two day laborers seeking employment at a Sacramento County Home Depot were detained by individuals reportedly wearing masks and arriving in eight unmarked SUVs without visible license plates,” the press release states.
“We would not even know about it if not for the Day Laborer Network’s on-the-ground work,” the Sacramento Immigration Committee said in a statement. “Communities need to be made aware of such occurrences, to keep each other safe, and to inform our next steps towards safety, support, and/or resourcing.”
NDLON urges “lawmakers to support SB 1103 and stand firmly for safe workplaces, safe businesses, and safe communities.”
The bill is currently in the hands of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where it is unlikely to become law in the current legislative session.
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