THE GROUP ALSO PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO 3 STATE RUN SHELTERS.

A GROUP OF DAY LABORERS SAY THEY'RE BEING ABUSED BY OFF-DUTY CHICAGO POLICE OFFICERS AT A LOCAL HOME DEPOT.

THE GROUP IS SUING THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE CITY AND HOME DEPOT, CITING MONTHS OF ALLEGED HARASSMENT AT A SOUTHWEST SIDE STORE.

ACCORDING TO THE COMPLAINT FILED IN FEDERAL COURT THIS WEEK, THE 5 PLAINTIFFS CLAIM THEY WERE UNFAIRLY TARGETED BY OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICERS WHO WORK AT THE HOME DEPOT AS SECURITY GUARDS.

JOINING US NOW WITH MORE OUR KEVIN OUT LEGAL DIRECTOR AT RISE.

THE FLORA LIONS AND BEGAN OF IT AS A LITTLE THE THAT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT THE LETTING UNION OF CHICAGO.

THANK YOU BOTH FOR JOINING KEVIN, I WANT TO START WITH YOU.

WALK US THROUGH THE LAW.

SO THAT WAS FILED ON TUESDAY.

SURE.

SO THE LAWSUIT ALLEGES THAT A LITANY OF ABUSES HAVE BEEN COMMITTED BY A GROUP THAT ARE NAMED AS DEFENDANTS.

THE FIRST BEING A SET OF INDIVIDUAL POLICE OFFICERS WHO ARE WORKING SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT AS PRIVATE SECURITY ON HOME DEPOT'S PROPERTY AS WELL AS HOME DEPOT ITSELF AND THE CITY OF CHICAGO IN CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT AS THE SUPERVISORS OF THESE OFF-DUTY POLICE ARE ALLEGATIONS ARE CLEAR BASED ON WHAT OUR PLAINTIFFS HAVE SAID TO US.

WHAT ABOUT THE EXPERIENCED, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY THAT OFFICERS NEAR THE HOME DEPOT.

HANDCUFFED THEM.

PUNCH THEM, SLAPPED THEM, KICK THEM, INSULTED THEM BASED ON PRESUMPTIONS ABOUT WHO THEY WHETHER IT WAS NATIONAL ORIGIN AS VENEZUELANS OR BASED ON THEIR RACE AND ETHNICITY.

AND THEN THOSE FOLKS WERE HELD IN A PRIVATE BACK ROOM IN THE HOME DEPOT, SOMETIMES FOR AS MANY AS SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE BEING ARRESTED AND THEN CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL TRESPASS.

THIS VIOLATES SEVERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS, INCLUDING THE CONSTITUTION, AS WELL AS ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.

AND MIGUEL, THE COMPLAINT CLAIMS OF HARASSMENT AGAINST DAY LABORERS IS NOTHING NEW.

WHAT TYPES OF PATTERNS ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY.

BACK IN 2008, THERE WAS A SIMILAR SITUATION OF FOR WHICH A LAWSUIT WAS FILED.

ALTHOUGH BACK THEN THE THE WERE WE'RE NOT NEW MIGRANTS WHERE THEY WERE.

A LOT OF THEM ARE MEXICAN.

THEY WERE CENTRAL AMERICA AND I WOULD EVEN GO A LITTLE BIT FURTHER AND SINCE 2003, OUR ORGANIZATION HAS BEEN WORKING WITH DAY LABORERS THAT HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT, NOT JUST AT HOME DEPOT'S, BUT ALSO ON THE PART OF OF POLICE AND SECURITY FORCES.

WOULD YOU SAY COME IN?

THIS IS A BIG DEAL FOR THESE PLAINTIFFS TO STAND UP FOR WHAT FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM USE THEIR VOICE TO SHARE WHAT HAPPENED.

IT'S ABSOLUTELY A BIG DEAL, RIGHT?

IT TAKES A LOT OF BRAVERY FOR SOMEONE TO COME FORWARD AND SAY.

I MIGHT BE IN A VULNERABLE POSITION BASED ON MY ECONOMIC STATUS BASED ON MY RACE OR ETHNICITY, MY GENDER OR MY IMMIGRATION STATUS.

BUT I'M NOT GOING TO STAND ASIDE WHILE MY RIGHTS ARE VIOLATED.

AND SO IT'S HUGE THAT UNION HAS BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THESE WORKERS BECAUSE HONESTLY, I THINK THAT THE IDEA THAT THEY HAD ACCESS TO RIGHT AND COULD STAND UP WAS NEW TO THEM IN SOME CASES.

BUT THEN FOR THEM THEMSELVES TO SAY, YOU KNOW, I WILL STEP UP THE CHALLENGE, POWERFUL PEOPLE WHO VIOLATE MY HUMANITY AND VIOLATE MY RIGHTS.

IT'S TREMENDOUS.

AND I WANT TO PUT SOMETHING UP.

W TT NEWS DID REACH OUT TO THE HOME DEPOT ABOUT THE LAWSUIT WAS PROVIDED WITH THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT.

I'VE WHICH I'M GOING TO READ RIGHT NOW.

WE TAKE ALLEGATIONS OF VIOLENCE VERY SERIOUSLY.

AND WE ARE INVESTIGATING THE ISSUE.

WE BELIEVE IN RESPECTING ALL PEOPLE.

WE DON'T TOLERATE VIOLENCE OR DISCRIMINATION.

MIGUEL, HOW DO YOU PEOPLE IS HELP HANDLING THIS ALLEGATIONS?

LOOK, I WOULD BE CONCERNED IF THEY TOLERATE DEFIANCE.

THE REALITY IS THAT THEY DON'T NEED TO CAN DO SOMETHING IN ORDER TO CREATE THE SPACE THAT ALLOWS FOR THAT TYPE OF VIOLENCE.

AND THIS IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING.

THERE HAS BEEN A PATTERN OF HOME DEPOT, INCREASING SECURITY ON THEIR PROPERTIES, WHICH YES, IT IS THEIR RIGHT.

BUT THERE'S ALSO BEEN A PEOPLE TAKING ACTIVE ACTION AGAINST THE PRESENCE OF HER NOVELS.

WE A LONG HISTORY OF THEM, RIGHT?

YES, YES.

PEOPLE OUTSIDE LOOKING FOR JOBS.

YES, ABSOLUTELY.

NO.

THERE'S NOT IDOLS AND CHICAGO SINCE THERE'S BEEN THE CITY OF CHICAGO AND I WAS GOING TO SAY THAT LAST SUMMER, HOME DOWN IN THE SOUTH, CUT DOWN ITS TREES ON ON THE PARKING LOT.

AND OF COURSE, YES, THE THRONE PROPERTY, THEY CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT.

BUT THAT IS EVIDENT ACTION THAT WAS TAKEN TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SPACE UNCOMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE FOR FOLKS ENTER REALLY JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING.

AND KEVIN, THE CITY OF CHICAGO IN CHICAGO, POLICE DEPARTMENT DECLINED A REQUEST TO BE ON THE SHOW DUE TO PENDING LITIGATION.

BUT WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE 2 OFF-DUTY OFFICERS WHO ARE NAMED AS DEFENDANTS IN THE COMPLAINT?

SO WE CAN TELL YOU THAT THOSE OFFICERS WERE INVOLVED IN DETENTIONS AND THE ABUSES DISCRIMINATION THAT OUR CLIENTS EXPERIENCED.

WE CAN ALSO SAY THAT THOSE FOLKS WERE IDENTIFIED BOTH BY OUR CLIENTS AS WELL AS BY ORGANIZERS FROM UNION AS PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THE INCIDENTS.

THE LAWSUIT NAMES THE SET OF DO OFFICERS WERE NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHICH HOW MANY AND EXACTLY WHO WAS INVOLVED FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.

BUT WE'RE INTERESTED IN FINDING MORE OF THAT OUT.

AND WE'RE ALSO VERY ADAMANT ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE CITY OF CHICAGO IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE IN THIS LAWSUIT AS THE ORGANIZATION AND THE GROUP THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OFFICERS, WHETHER THEY'RE ON THE CLOCK OR ACTING AS COPS OFF THE CAR CLOCK AND WE GO.

ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT THE SABRES WERE EXPERIENCES OUTSIDE OF HOME DEPOT?

UNFORTUNATELY, NOW I'M LIKE I MENTIONED BEFORE, THERE IS A HISTORICAL PATTERN OF AGGRESSION AGAINST THE PRESENCE OF OF FOLKS SEEKING WORK OUTSIDE ON THE AND WE KNOW THE LAWSUIT ALSO ADDRESSES A LARGER ISSUE OF MOONLIGHTING.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS?

ACTUALLY, I WOULD LOVE TO PASS ON TO KEVIN.

SURE, SOME LIGHTING IS WHAT WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT.

THE RIGHT.

THE SECONDARY THAT FOLKS TAKE THAT POLICE OFFICERS MIGHT TAKE ON TO MAKE A LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA MONEY HERE IN CHICAGO IS ONE OF THE LEAST REGULATED CITIES IN THE COUNTRY WHEN IT COMES TO OFFICER WHO SWORN IN TO SERVE THE CITY CAN DO IN THEIR TIME AWAY.

SO RIGHT NOW, WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IN PART IN THE LAWSUIT IS, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING TO HELP REGULATE PEOPLE FROM ABUSING THEIR POWERS POLICE WHEN THEY'RE NOT WORKING FOR THE AND WE ONLY HAVE A COUPLE SECONDS.

LEFT.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS A MESSAGE?

DO YOU WANT TO BRING OUT THERE WITH THIS LAWSUIT?

WE NEED.

WE NEED TO CREATE THE SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT SO THAT PEOPLE CAN FIND HOUSING.

PEOPLE CAN FIND EMPLOYMENT AND PEOPLE DON'T NEED TO GO TO A CORNER, EXPOSE THEMSELVES TO EXTREME EXTREME COLD JUST TO MAKE A LIVING.

IT'S A CITY OF CHICAGO CAN FIGURE OUT A WAY