Anti-ICE protesters rallied outside of Target’s headquarters in downtown Minneapolis Monday as Michael Fiddelke, the company’s new CEO, starts his first day.
The rally took place just 36 hours after protesters filled 23 Target stores across the Twin Cities.
The group ICE Out Now Minnesota Coalition stated several demands for Fiddelke and Target:
- Call for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave Minnesota
- Exercise the company’s Fourth Amendment rights and post signage denying ICE access unless officers have signed judicial warrants
- Train staff on how to deal with ICE encounters
- Publicly call for President Trump to “shut down” ICE
- Lobby Congress to deny more ICE funding and investigate constitutional violation claims
- Call for federal agents who harm or kill civilians to “be held legally accountable”
“Target is at a crossroads today,” said coalition member Veronica Mendez Moore. “They can continue to ignore the thousands and thousands of voices locally and across the country who are calling on them to be a good corporate citizen and to stand up for our families and our communities — or they can listen to us. They can stand with us and they can demand that ICE leave Minnesota now.”
Pastor Doug Mork, of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, implored Fiddelke and Target to “be courageous.”
“For years, corporations like Target have been accumulating power and asking for more to have an influence in our communities and in our country. We are asking them to show the same level of courage that neighbors are showing every day who are answering this call to love neighbor,” Mork said.
Last week, Fiddelke joined 60 other CEOs of Minnesota-based companies in an open letter calling for “an immediate de-escalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.”
Heather Hecker, a physician assistant and member of Unidos MN, said Fiddelke’s participation in the letter “was far from enough.”
“Target relies on immigrants, from the workers in your stores, to the drivers who deliver groceries for Shipt, to the people who grow and process the food that you sell,” Hecker said. “We’re asking you to speak out against the violent abductions of those workers, our neighbors, our fellow workers, our family members. They deserve dignity. They deserve work permits and a pathway to citizenship.”
Organizers repeated claims that Target has allowed federal agents to gather and coordinate operations in their store parking lots. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that Target does not have cooperative agreements with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agency.
Fiddelke toured a suburban Dallas Target store Monday morning to mark his first day at the helm. CBS News Texas was originally scheduled to interview Fiddelke afterward, but he later canceled.
WCCO has reached out to Target for more information.
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