Workers urge Target and US firms to speak up over ICE raids

Why corporate America is mostly staying quiet as federal immigration agents show up at its doors

Federal immigration raids in Minnesota prompted a social backlash. But the business community is largely hedging its bets due to a changed political calculus.

ICE has violated America

Federal agents spray demonstrators at close range with irritants after the killing of Renee Good by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. Since July 2025, there have been at least 17 open-fire incidents involving federal immigration agents, according to data compiled by The Trace, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news outlet investigating gun violence. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)…

Workers urge Target and US firms to speak up over ICE raids

Workers are writing letters, staging strikes and in some cases resigning over how bosses are handling the immigration crackdown.

Why Target is under fire over Minnesota ICE raids

Target and other major Minnesota businesses are facing rising discontent from staff, as workers fear the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown puts them at risk on the job. Employees are pushing firms to provide clearer guidance about how to respond if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrive at their worksites – and asking them to do more to limit agents’ access to stores and parking lots. The pressures have been particu…

Target built its brand on community trust, but one ICE incident is unraveling that image fast

Target, one of Minnesota’s largest corporate employers, is facing mounting employee anger and public backlash after federal immigration agents detained two workers inside a suburban Minneapolis store last month. The highly visible incident has forced major Minnesota businesses to clarify how employees should respond when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrive at workplaces. As first reported by the BBC, the detentions unfolded in fu…

Why corporate America is mostly staying quiet as federal immigration agents show up at its doors

by Alessandro Piazza, Rice University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission] When U.S. Border Patrol agents entered a Target store in Richfield, Minnesota, in early January, detaining two employees, it marked a new chapter in the relationship between corporate America and the federal government. Across the Twin Cities, federal immigration enforcement operations have turned businesses into sites of confron…