Employees at Wayfair are planning to walk off the job at their Boston headquarters Wednesday afternoon in protest of the online furniture company's decision to continue selling beds and other furniture to migrant detention centers.
A group of 547 employees signed a letter to the company's leadership on June 21 asking them to stop doing business with government contractors supplying the detention centers after learning of a $200,000 contract to supply a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas.
"The United States government and its contractors are responsible for the detention and mistreatment of hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking asylum in our country – we want that to end," the employees wrote in their letter, which was obtained by NBC News. "We also want to be sure that Wayfair has no part in enabling, supporting, or profiting from this practice."
The company, which has more than 14,000 employees worldwide, denied the request in a letter signed by the "Leadership Team," according to The Boston Globe.
"As a retailer, it is standard practice to fulfill orders for all customers," the company wrote in its response.
In response, the employees organized the protest under the heading Wayfair Walkout.
The conditions at the migrant detention centers have come under fire, with almost 300 children being removed from one in Clint, Texas, after media reports described "appalling" and dangerous conditions, Department of Homeland Security officials told NBC News Tuesday.
An unverified Twitter account for the group of protesting employees was asking for all profits from sales to government contractors supplying detention facilities to go to the nonprofit organization RAICES, which provides free legal services to immigrants.
The protesting employees were also calling for a "code of ethics" for business-to-business sales to be enacted "in accordance with our core values," according to the letter.
"At Wayfair, we believe that 'everyone should live in a home that they love,'" the employees said. "Let's stay true to that message by taking a stand against the reprehensible practice of separating families, which denies them any home at all."