Faith groups stage Palm‑Sunday hymn‑singing protest at downtown Pasadena Target over DEI rollback and ICE concerns

Congregants from Greater Los Angeles Mennonite Action and All Saints Church spent two hours singing hymns at the Downtown Pasadena Target on Palm Sunday, pressing store leadership to accept a written list of demands tied to what organizers described as the company's retreat from diversity commitments and cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

The action on March 29 at 777 E. Colorado Blvd. ran from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., following a 2:00 p.m. prayer gathering. Organizers framed it as a "peaceful witness" and delivered letters directly to store management calling on Target to "end its complicity with ICE and restore its DEI commitments."

The demonstration connects two distinct pressure points that have driven community organizing against Target throughout early 2026. Federal immigration agents conducted enforcement activity at or near Target properties in Minnesota in January and February, drawing sharp criticism from immigrant-rights and faith communities. Separately, Target announced changes to some of its DEI programs, triggering a sustained consumer and community response that has spread across markets through boycotts and in-store demonstrations.

The Pasadena action is part of a coordinated, multi-market campaign supported by national groups focused on Target's public policy positions. All Saints Church published a coordinated schedule and publicly urged congregants to join what organizers called a "Sing Down the Doors"-style action, a nonviolent tradition that uses music as its primary mode of confrontation. The Palm Sunday timing was intentional: organizers chose one of Christianity's most public liturgical days to sharpen the moral framing of their demands, situating the action within a week of broader regional protests and solidarity events across Southern California.

For the team working the floor at the Colorado Boulevard store that Saturday afternoon, the two-hour window created real operational challenges: managing guest flow, coordinating with security, and maintaining a normal shopping environment while congregants sang nearby. Those conditions are not unique to Pasadena. With organizing infrastructure now in place across multiple metro areas, store-level leaders should treat these demonstrations as a recurring operational reality rather than an isolated event.

Team leads and executive team leaders facing similar situations need to balance several competing priorities at once: keeping the environment safe and welcoming for guests, ensuring team members understand their off-clock rights to observe or participate in any lawful demonstration, and coordinating with store security and local law enforcement if crowd size warrants it. Pre-planned talking points for front-line leaders reduce the risk of improvised responses that can escalate an already charged atmosphere. The Pasadena protest did not close this chapter for Target; it extended it.