TALLAHASSEE — The Florida GOP’s latest attempt to fundraise off of the state’s immigration enforcement has run afoul of the nation’s largest chain of home improvement stores.
Within hours of Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiling a new immigrant detention center dubbed the “Deportation Depot,” the Republican Party of Florida on Friday unveiled a corresponding line of shirts, hats and other tchotchkes for sale.
Each bears a “The Deport Depot” logo with the same recognizable orange box and stenciled font as the one belonging to The Home Depot.
Home Depot spokesperson Beth Marlowe said late Friday that the company had not approved the party to use its branding or logo.
“We have reached out to the RPOF to try to resolve this issue,” she said in an email.
As of Saturday afternoon, the items were still for sale, ranging from $15 to $28. Sales count as political contributions to the Republican Party of Florida.
Party chairperson Evan Power didn’t respond to requests for comment on Saturday. On Friday, before The Home Depot weighed in, he said that the party clears its merchandise through lawyers before selling it.
Power said he was confident that “The Deport Depot” was protected by prior case law, in which “no reasonable person would think it’s the logo of a company.”
“It’s proving a point by highlighting a recognizable symbol,” Power said of the party’s logo.
“The Deport Depot” is the second line of merch themed to the state’s immigration efforts. When DeSantis unveiled the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center in the Everglades, the party and state Attorney General James Uthmeier released a corresponding line of shirts, buttons, hats and drink insulators.
Companies have taken aggressive approaches to protecting their logos, but The Home Depot could be more sensitive than most.
The company’s home improvement stores have become ground zero for President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeting the day laborers who gather there seeking work.
Raids outside Home Depot stores have been particularly acute in California. The June protests in a neighborhood of Los Angeles were sparked in part by reports of immigration agents chasing people outside a store. On Thursday, a man was struck and killed by a vehicle while fleeing immigration agents at a Home Depot in Southern California.
The company has been criticized on all sides for largely staying out of the issue.
“We aren’t notified that ICE activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in them,” Marlowe said.
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