Amid the danger of vehicular traffic on Evergreen Avenue, the Residence Depot facility in the city of Monrovia and the Foothill Highway 210 off-ramp, dozens of day laborers crossed toward the memorial dedicated to Workers Memorial Day.
There, men and women members of the National Day Labor Network (NDLON) planted more crosses in the ground: 66 in total, which is the number of immigrant workers who have died during the massive immigration raids deployed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“What they have done is inhumane,” declared Inés Jones, who for 28 years has been linked to the day laborers’ struggle. She nailed Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal’s cross. The immigrant from Afghanistan remained in ICE custody for only one day and died on March 14 at the Successfully Being Parkland facility in Dallas, Texas.
The man served with the US Army Special Forces in Paktika province — one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan — starting in 2005, according to the nonprofit organization AfghanEvac. He and his family were evacuated when the pro-American government in Kabul fell to the Taliban in 2021.
Near the metal mesh of Highway 210, a large cross previously stood out that was placed in honor of Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, the 52-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who died on August 14, 2025 after being hit by a vehicle on Highway 210, in Monrovia, while fleeing from masked ICE agents.
Montoya Valdez ran from the Residence Depot parking lot onto the eastbound highway, where he was struck by an SUV in the leftmost lane. Filled with fear, he escaped from ICE agents and his body was repatriated to his country.
“This year, tragically, we must add the names of many workers who have also died fleeing ICE raids, or in ICE detention camps, or defending workers against militarized federal police,” said Salvador Sarmiento, spokesperson for NDLON.
The altar of crosses and photographs grows
Also, at the intersection of Evergreen and Mountain avenues, NDLON members set up a makeshift altar with flowers and numerous crosses containing the date of death and photograph of deceased immigrant workers including U.S. citizens Renee Excellent and Alex Pretti, murdered in Minneapolis in January of this year.
“We have to honor workers who have died on the job,” said Claire, an NDLON organizer. “We also need to honor those who died in ICE concentration camps, and defend others from Trump’s paramilitary agents.”
According to data from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest union federation in the United States representing almost 15 million workers, in 2024, more than 380 workers will die every day due to dangerous conditions. The total number of deaths was established at 5,070.
Claire revealed that workers of color die on the job at a higher rate: occupational death rates among African American and Latino workers are disproportionate compared to those of other workers and an estimated 530 workers died due to heat in the workplace; However, both fatal and non-fatal case figures underestimate the serious magnitude of the problem.
Workplace homicides continue to be a significant problem, having increased 3% since 2023; For their part, workplace suicides decreased by 6.4% compared to 2023.
“This is a catastrophe,” he said.
A day to heal the soul
José Madera, current director of the NDLON Work Center in Pasadena, highlighted that “Fallen Worker’s Day” is a recognition of workers who die at work due to lack of safety and adequate equipment.
“Every day there are workers who get hurt and die because they do not have safety or the safety equipment they need to do construction work, painting or the different jobs that day laborers do,” he said. “It is a day to heal the soul, but also to promote the health and safety of workers when they accept a job.”
For this reason, Madera considered that companies that hire day laborers should provide them with the safety equipment they need to do a job, because, by protecting them, their families are also protected.
In relation to the tragic death of Guatemalan day laborer Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez, the activist stated that, “when the raids began, the only thing the federal government brought was hatred and dismay.”
“That is what we have seen in all the streets of Los Angeles and in other states; agents with guns and masks have brought dismay; they have separated and kidnapped people who just come to work, and one of them was Roberto Carlos Montoya.”
Madera considered that, in addition to the upcoming May 1 protests throughout the country, Latino families and voters of this race will be able to change the fate of the “merciless and ruthless” application of immigration laws.
“Many people are saying: this United States is not the country where I want to live. That is not my country, and that is why people who can vote are raising their voices,” he said. “We already see hate in Los Angeles, in Chicago, in Minneapolis, and I think we are all united in solidarity, because only the people save the people.”
And although Carlos García, a Mexican day laborer from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, cannot vote, he does believe he can influence his fellow naturalized citizens to defend the community at the polls.
“Things are difficult. I don’t have papers. I am undocumented. I came with a visa and I have an immigration case, but it hasn’t been resolved for years,” he said. “Now, my main concern is paying the monthly rent, followed by food. That gives me relief.”
García, 78, stressed that the “cruelty and inhumanity” suffered by immigrants in an irregular situation goes beyond reasonable understanding.
“Those people who commit this hatred and racism are criminals who have no empathy for anyone,” he said, “But, yes. I would like to do something for my brother day laborers.”
Caltrans threats
Marlom Portillo, coordinator of the current education curriculum at the National Day Labor Organization Network, expressed his confidence that each of the 66 immigrants who have died – so far – at the hands or in the custody of the United States government will one day achieve justice.
“I hope so. We continue fighting, there has to be justice, because we are not going to remain silent. Our demand for justice is not going to stop,” he expressed. “Every time we protest, the struggle in the community becomes more consolidated.”
However, Portillo announced that the memorial they have erected with the crosses and photographs of the dead immigrants has been vandalized and destroyed eight times.
And although motorists passing by the exit ramp of the Foothill 210 Freeway at Evergreen Avenue honk their horns and encourage them in their fight, they still do not fully recognize that there are the crosses of 66 dead immigrants and a sign announcing the reason for the memorial.
But, those who do know are the authorities of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), who have threatened not to destroy it but to remove it on July 1, 2026 to “save” it, due to “maintenance” work.
“At least they are not going to destroy it, but rather save it,” said Marlom Portillo.
