When Immigration Crackdowns Hit the Aisles and the Apps - ICE, Border Force, and the New Face of Everyday Enforcement

1st November 2025

From Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in United States raids outside Home Depot to UK Border Force checks on gig-economy riders, immigration enforcement is moving from borders to the heart of daily commerce and both companies and customers are feeling the shockwaves.

In 2025, immigration enforcement stopped being invisible

In the U.S. ICE agents began appearing outside Home Depot and similar DIY stores. In the U.K. Border Force officers started targeting food-delivery riders in London, Birmingham, and Manchester.

Both governments call it a deterrent. Businesses call it disruptive. Workers call it terrifying. And customers? They're discovering that immigration politics now touches their errands and dinner deliveries alike.

ICE at the Hardware Store: When Worksite Raids Go Public

Home Depot's vast parking lots have long served as informal hiring sites for day-labourers, many undocumented. Contractors pull up, offer short-term jobs, and drive away. It has been a quiet feature of suburban America's construction economy.

But since 2025, ICE has made those car parks a stage for "worksite enforcement operations." Raids in Southern California, Texas, and Arizona have seen agents detain workers and question shoppers.

Home Depot denies coordination with ICE, citing a strict "no solicitation" policy.

Sales in targeted regions fell temporarily, with nervous customers avoiding stores during visible raids.

Labour shortages have emerged in small, informal construction jobs once filled by day-labourers.

The reputational dilemma for corporations like Home Depot is complex do nothing and risk being seen as complicit, or intervene and risk political backlash.

Border Force and the Gig Economy Digital Enforcement Arrives

Across the Atlantic, the U.K. has made gig-economy workers the new frontier of immigration enforcement. Food delivery platforms have been ordered to verify riders' identities using biometric checks and photo verification.

Hundreds of riders have been arrested for using borrowed or false accounts.

The Home Office has pushed for real-time worker verification across all gig platforms.

Delivery delays and rising operational costs have followed, as companies scramble to comply.

This new approach makes enforcement data-driven rather than street-based — the same scrutiny, but executed through apps and algorithms rather than handcuffs and vans.

Two Economies, One Pattern

Both countries are chasing the same goal: shutting down informal labour markets that thrive in plain sight.

The difference lies in the delivery.

United States
ICE and local police collaboration.
Physical raids — parking lots, car parks, farms.
Visible public deterrence.

United Kingdom
Border Force and tech-platform compliance teams.
Digital audits — account checks, ID scans.
Silent, systemic verification.

The result in both cases is the same i.e. more pressure on low-wage labour, higher compliance costs for companies, and a subtle reshaping of customer experience.

What It Means for Businesses and Customers

For businesses
Reputational risk is rising. Home Depot can't control who waits in its parking lot, and Deliveroo can't easily verify every rider in real time, but both are now on the hook for immigration enforcement outcomes.

For workers
Fear and precarity are spreading. In the U.S., being visible can mean detention. In the U.K., a shared login can mean deportation.

For customers
Effects are creeping in through higher prices, longer waits, or uneasy optics. A trip to a DIY store or a food delivery order is no longer apolitical and it's entangled with national immigration debates.

2026 Outlook - The End of the Grey Zone

Looking ahead, the trend is clear.

ICE plans to continue "community enforcement," targeting high-visibility sites like DIY stores.

The Home Office will expand digital ID systems, effectively building an immigration firewall into every major gig platform.

The shared destination? The end of the grey zone where informal labour once lived between legality and necessity.

The Quiet Redefinition of a Border

Borders are no longer just lines on a map. They are now policed through workplaces, apps, and shopping habits. The same tools that help you build a deck or order a burger have become checkpoints of legality.

Some will see this as overdue fairness while others, as creeping surveillance.

Either way, immigration enforcement has entered the marketplace itself. And it's not leaving anytime soon.