Amazon Workers Protest ICE Contracts and Surveillance During May Day Rally

Matt Multari has spent the last year and a half driving for Amazon while organizing with the Teamsters. His daily routine involves delivering packages, but he views his work as far more than just a job—it’s a fight for historical survival and dignity.

“After the Assyrians lost their state, they survived in their homeland of Iraq for thousands of years. After facing a genocide that forced them to flee that homeland, they went to Russia, and then to Iran, and then some of them went to New York. Now I’m here,” he said. “And I’d like to tell Amazon: fuck you!”

On May 1, Multari led a rally in front of an Amazon office building in Queens, New York, as part of International Workers’ Day. The crowd included warehouse workers, delivery drivers, and software engineers from Queens and Staten Island.

“Each of us here has a story of generational struggle,” Multari, 25, told the crowd. “But to me, working for Amazon means the obliteration of identity. Amazon is trying to erase that.”

Every shift begins with Multari putting on his blue Amazon vest at the DBK-1 warehouse in Queens. The company’s surveillance system tracks his every move: an app dictates his delivery route and enforces strict time quotas. If he falls behind, the app pushes him to go faster. Workers receive weekly performance scorecards.

Five months ago, Multari and his coworkers at DBK-1 voted to unionize with the Teamsters, joining thousands of Amazon workers nationwide who have organized in recent years. While Amazon has refused to formally bargain with the union, workers have secured some concessions—such as paid leave during record-breaking winter storms and reimbursement for new hand-trucks.

However, Multari and his coworkers recognize that job security remains precarious in an era of automation. “Amazon, at its core, is a tech company,” he said. “Our main asset to them is our data from our routes, so that it can train its algorithm, making us more and more replaceable.”

Amazon’s profitability hinges on its cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), which generates more revenue than all of its retail operations combined. AWS sells cloud services to government agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to Forbes, ICE spent at least $25 million on AWS during the second Trump administration.

AWS also holds contracts with Palantir, the surveillance technology company responsible for much of ICE’s deportation infrastructure. Amazon’s influence extends further: acting ICE director Todd Lyons has publicly stated his goal to run deportations “like Amazon Prime for human beings.”

These connections between Amazon and ICE were central to Monday’s rally, where non-union tech workers joined unionized warehouse employees in protest. The coalition reflects growing unease among Amazon’s workforce over the company’s role in government surveillance and its broader labor practices.