ICE Out of MN Coalition Presses Target to Block ICE, Protect Workers

Veronica Mendez Moore, corporate campaigns coordinator for ICE Out of MN, framed a concentrated pressure campaign in a March 5 interview that centers on a January incident at a Richfield Target where Border Patrol agents detained two people. Organizers say that incident - identified by one report as occurring on Jan. 8, 2026 - crystalized calls for Target to deny ICE and Border Patrol access to stores and parking lots unless officers present signed judicial warrants.

Unidos Minnesota, which has focused protests on the Richfield location, has pushed Target to use its clout in state politics. Ulla Nilsen of Unidos MN said, "Companies like Target can and must use their influence and force the administration to end the occupation of our cities and stop this regime of terror across the country." Nilsen added, "Target is Minnesota’s leading corporate citizen … Minnesota sports teams play in stadiums and wear jerseys with Target’s logo on it. Where Target leads, others follow," and accused the company of failing to speak out as reports circulated that agents staged operations in Target parking lots.

The campaign has mixed mass marches and civil disobedience. Organizers estimate a Jan. 23 march and airport actions drew between 50,000 and 100,000 people, and nationwide sit-ins and occupations took place on Jan. 31 with events reported in Washington, DC, Chicago, New York, Boston, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, San Diego, and Seattle. A national coalition of Mennonite congregations carried out roughly a dozen demonstrations inside and outside Target stores, and Socialist Alternative organizer Elan Axelbank led a Dinkytown protest in Minneapolis, saying, "They claim to be part of the community, but they are not standing up to ICE."

Demonstrators returned to Target’s Minneapolis headquarters on Feb. 2 after organizers say actions fanned out to 23 separate Target stores across the city in the runup. The coalition’s public asks include that Target refuse cooperation with ICE and Border Patrol, operate as a "Fourth Amendment business" by denying entry without warrants, use political and economic influence to lobby against ICE, and publicly push Congress to defund ICE.

Target and a cluster of Minnesota corporate leaders have responded with limited public language. About 60 corporate executives published a letter on the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce website calling for "de-escalation" or the "immediate de-escalation of tensions" after the killing of Alex Pretti, a move organizers describe as insufficient because it stops short of demanding ICE leave the state. Target declined to comment to media requests and did not provide a statement by a reporting deadline.

The campaign leverages Target’s outsized local profile - headquartered in Minneapolis, described by organizers as a home-grown corporate leader with prominent logo placement on stadiums, and criticized for a $1 million donation to the 2025 presidential inaugural committee and for rolling back DEI policies - to press for policy change. Market analyst Saunders of GlobalData said the protests are "another distraction from Target's business."

Strategic analysts watching the effort note its durability will hinge on sustaining multi-state pressure beyond the initial week of occupations and converting varied actions into concrete wins. Reporters and organizers point to immediate verification needs: the full list of signatories on the Chamber letter, official incident reports for the Richfield detentions, authenticated video of the Richfield encounter, and a current, on-the-record statement from Target.