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Employees at online home furnishings retailer Wayfair walked out Wednesday to protest the company's decision to sell $200,000 worth of furniture to a government contractor that runs a detention center for migrant children in Texas.

The protest triggered a broader backlash against the company, with some customers calling for a boycott. Several hundred people joined the protest at a plaza near the company's Boston headquarters, a mix of employees and people from outside the company.

More than 500 employees at the company's Boston headquarters signed a protest letter to executives when they found out about the contract. Wayfair refused to back out of the contract but told employees Wednesday morning that it would donate $100,000 to the Red Cross.

The controversy stirred amid outcry over conditions at the border, where Customs and Border Protection and Health and Human Services, which runs the holding facilities for minors, have been overwhelmed by a massive influx of Central American migrants crossing the border illegally to ask for asylum.  

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Several hundred people joined the Wednesday protest at a plaza near the company's Boston headquarters, a mix of employees and people from outside the company

Harmony Witte, 34, of Cambridge joins the demonstration by Wayfair employees protesting the company's sales of beds and furniture to U.S. border detention facilities, in Boston on Wednesday

Twin sisters, Chanelle and Simone John, 28, of Boston join the demonstration by Wayfair employees protesting the company's sales of beds and furniture to U.S. border detention facilities, in Boston on Wednesday

More than 500 employees at the company's Boston headquarters signed a protest letter to executives when they found out about the contract

On Tuesday, the acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection resigned amid an uproar over the discovery of migrant children being held in pitiful conditions at one of the agency's stations in Texas.

Acting Commissioner John Sanders' departure deepened the sense of crisis and added to the rapid turnover inside the agencies responsible for enforcing President Donald Trump's hardline immigration priorities as the U.S. deals with record numbers of migrant families coming across the border.

Wayfair employees were moved to outrage when they found that their company was selling beds to a contractor hired by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which takes over the long-term care of unaccompanied migrant children after they are processed by CBP. 

'Last week, we found out about the sale and that we are profiting from this. And we are not comfortable with that,' said Tom Brown, 33, a Wayfair engineer at the protest. 'For me personally, there is more to life than profit.'

Wayfair's stock initially slipped more than 5 per cent Tuesday as word of the walkout spread and remained flat Wednesday. 

Prior to the walkout, Wayfair's founder sent an email that offered to donate $100,0000 to the American Red Cross to support them in 'their effort to help those in dire need of basic necessities at the border.' 

'We believe strongly in the political process in our country and the power of individuals engaging in it to create change,' the statement added. 'As we enter the next election cycle, the ability for everyone to contribute their view and be politically engaged is even more important.'  

Participants of the Wayfair walkout gather in Copley Square during the demonstration against the company

A woman speaks into a megaphone during the Wayfair walkout in Copley Square on June 26, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts

Protesters carried signs as they marched to the plaza near the company's Boston headquarters

The protest ended approximately an hour after it had started and with a chant

'When immigrants are under attack, what do we do?' asked leader Madeline Howard. 'Stand up. Fight back,' the crowd responded

 

On the group's Twitter, @Wayfairwalkout responded to the letter: 'This is great news! And proof that Wayfair can & does do good. However, the Red Cross has nothing to do with these ICE-operated facilities.' 

The group already demanded that all $86,000 in profits be donated to RAICES - the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.

The employees were joined by thousands who have been alarmed by the state of detention camps at the border.  

The protest ended approximately an hour after it had started with a chant, CNN reports. 

'When immigrants are under attack, what do we do?' asked leader Madeline Howard. 'Stand up. Fight back,' the crowd responded.

'We don't want our company to profit off of children being in concentration camps. We don't want them to do this again,' Howard added.

Participants of the Wayfair walkout gather in Copley Square on Wednesday in Boston 

Protesters hold signs during a rally at Copley Square after employees from the online furniture retailer Wayfair walked out

Employees at online home furnishings retailer Wayfair walked out of work to protest the company's decision to sell $200,000 worth of furniture to a government contractor that runs a detention center for migrant children in Texas

Wayfair refused to back out of the contract but told employees Wednesday morning that it would donate $100,000 to the Red Cross

Wayfair was to send bunkbeds to a detention center in Texas (stock)

Last week, more than 500 Wayfair employees signed a letter demanding that the company cease the sale of beds and other furniture destined for an emergency facility designed to hold unaccompanied minors in Texas.

On Monday, the company's executives responded in a letter to employees, saying that they respected the employees' concerns, but that not all employees or customers would agree, and that they intended to move forward with the sale.

'As a retailer, it is standard practice to fulfill orders for all customers, and we believe it is our business to sell to any customer who is acting within the laws of the countries within which we operate,' the reply said. 

'We believe all of our stakeholders, employees, customers, investors, and suppliers included are best served by our commitment to fulfill our orders,' the letter said. 

Wayfair was previously in the news for bowing to pressure to pull ads from Fox News host Laura Ingraham's weeknight show, a boycott called by gun control activist David Hogg after she criticized him on Twitter. 

On Tuesday, an anonymous Twitter account with more than 17,000 followers, @wayfairwalkout, called for the work stoppage. 

Wayfair did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The @wayfairwalkout account referred Reuters to the company and Reuters was not able to confirm it was created by Wayfair employees.

Wayfair CTO Steve Conine (left) and CEO Niraj Shah (right) are the co-founders of Wayfair. So far they are refusing to buckle to pressure to halt sales to the government

Border facility at the center of the Wayfair controversy 

Earlier this month, the U.S. government announced it was opening an emergency facility to house unaccompanied migrant children amid a massive influx at the border. 

The new facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, will welcome as many as 1,600 teens in a complex that once housed oil field workers on government-leased land near the border, according to Mark Weber, a spokesman for Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

'It is our legal requirement to take care of these children so that they are not in Border Patrol facilities,' Weber said. 

'They will have the services that ORR always provides, which is food, shelter and water.' 

HHS is rushing to open this new facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas that would house unaccompanied migrant children seeking asylum

Federal guidelines stipulate that children can't be held at CBP detention centers past 72 hours after they have been apprehended by the Border Patrol. 

The law requires the children to be transferred to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is in charge of providing longer-term shelters for the minors.  

The new facility will be considered a temporary emergency shelter, so it won't be subject to state child welfare licensing requirements, Weber said. 

In May, border agents apprehended 11,507 children traveling alone. 

On Tuesday, the acting head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection resigned amid an uproar over the discovery of migrant children being held in pitiful conditions at one of the agency's stations in Texas. 

Shares of Wayfair fell 5.3% to $144.40 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. 

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Twitter: 'I stand with hundreds of @Wayfair employees who are planning to stage a walkout at their Boston headquarters tomorrow. The safety and well-being of immigrant children is always worth fighting for.'

An image of a letter to Wayfair leaders from employees said that an order for more than $200,000 of bedroom furniture was destined for a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas that would house migrant children seeking asylum.

The beds were said to be bunk beds. 

Criticism has mounted this week over the detention of migrant children in overcrowded, squalid conditions.

'In response to a recent letter signed by 547 employees, our CEO said that the company would not cease doing business with contractors furnishing border camps,' @wayfairwalkout tweeted.

It demanded that Wayfair stop selling to migrant detention camps and that it give profits, which they claim amount to $86,000, to a Texas-based non-profit agency offering legal services to immigrants. 

The walkout is the latest example of employees protesting workplace social issues.

In June 2018, Alphabet Inc's Google faced internal upheaval over a contract to help the U.S. military analyze aerial drone imagery.

The hashtag '#wayfairwalkout' was top trending in the United States on Twitter as of Tuesday evening.

'Wayfair workers couldn´t stomach they were making beds to cage children,' tweeted Ocasio-Cortez. 'They asked the company to stop. CEO said no. Tomorrow, they're walking out.'