From Library to Lookout: How a School Librarian Leads High-Tech Immigrant Defense Network in Pasadena

Sharon Nicholls trades her school library for a Home Depot parking lot each morning, using a smartphone network to protect day laborers from federal immigration agents.

The East Pasadena Community Defense Center conducts daily monitoring and weekly rallies to challenge what organizers describe as unlawful federal enforcement actions.

“I saw a woman, a mom, being literally torn away from children by masked men that didn’t have a warrant,” Nicholls explains, describing her motivation for emerging from ‘activism retirement’ to become a community organizer.

The group’s upcoming rally on Saturday, August 16, at 9 a.m. at the Home Depot located at 2881 E. Walnut Street in Pasadena represents the culmination of their daily monitoring efforts.

Volunteers patrol the area, documenting potential immigration enforcement activities and building relationships with day laborers.

“We’ve gotten to know a lot of the workers. We talk to them every day. We’ve gotten to know them on a personal basis by name,” Nicholls said.

The group presents six specific demands to Home Depot management through weekly letters, calling for the company to take a stand against what they view as unlawful enforcement actions.

Part of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network’s broader “Adopt a Corner” campaign, the East Pasadena Community Defense Center operates from a tent headquarters.

The movement emerged following intensified ICE raids at Home Depot locations throughout Southern California in June.

“We want to demand that federal agencies stop using Home Depot premises to carry out surveillance, violence and unlawful kidnapping,” Nicholls said.

The group argues that corporations like Home Depot are complicit if they do not actively oppose such practices.

The rally will be led by volunteers, including Dayena Campbell and contact person Ella Saavedra, as Nicholls will be out of town.

Approximately three dozen protesters have participated in previous demonstrations, drawing teachers, retirees, and first-time activists committed to monitoring and responding to ICE activities in Pasadena.

Nicholls, who is married to Pablo Alvarado, the director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, draws attention to the group’s broader mission.

“We feel that corporations like Home Depot are complicit in this. If they don’t take a stand, then they’re also complicit. So we want the people of Pasadena to understand that if you aren’t going against these practices, you probably aren’t in favor of democracy.”