A group of Whole Foods employees are the latest to protest Amazon’s involvement with immigration authorities and the software and data company Palantir. Whole Foods is owned by Amazon. A group of current and former employees known as “Whole Worker” wrote, in a letter published Monday, “Undocumented people must be welcomed with compassion and treated like the political and economic asylum seekers they are. Many it must be added, are fleeing from conditions created by destructive U.S policies, making it the responsibility of the U.S to welcome them. It also must be said that Palantir, in 2011, was involved in a plan to spy on labor unions and activists.”
This comes following a major day of action against Amazon. On Sunday, over 40 people were arrested in New York City as Jewish protesters from Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and Never Again Action took over an Amazon bookstore to demand they stop collaborating with ICE.
Yehudah Webster: “The camps, the hieleras, the separations, the roundups and deportations — none of this could happen without the web hosting Amazon provides ICE and the server providers it relies on, such as Palantir. We say, 'Alas, ekah.'”
Protesters: “Alas, ekah.”
Among those arrested were New York City Councilmember Brad Lander and artist Molly Crabapple. Meanwhile, Jewish activists in Baltimore blocked the entrance to the Howard County Detention Center Sunday to demand city officials close immigrant camps. The Howard County Executive’s Office said, following the action, they “will properly review and evaluate our contract” with ICE.