Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is facing mounting criticism and protests after federal agents arrested two U.S. citizen employees at the company’s Richfield store, spurring demands that the retailer take a stand against immigration enforcement operations.
The incident occurred Jan. 7 when Customs and Border Protection agents followed two Target employees into the store’s vestibule, where they were pinned to the ground and handcuffed as shoppers and other employees looked on, according to video obtained by local media.
Rep. Michael Howard, who represents Richfield, confirmed he spoke to both men on Jan. 12 and verified they are U.S. citizens who have since been released. He said they were clearly targeted because of the color of their skin and sustained injuries and untold trauma while their rights were trampled.
One of those detained was identified as Jonathan Aguilar Garcia, a 17-year-old who multiple reports indicate was later dropped off at a Walmart parking lot eight minutes away, allegedly crying and bleeding after agents confirmed his citizenship.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that one individual was arrested for assaulting federal law enforcement officers. The agency has not responded to questions clarifying which individual was arrested.
Following the arrests, more than 100 clergy members staged a seven-hour sit-in at Target’s corporate headquarters in downtown Minneapolis on Jan. 15, demanding the company take action. After the prolonged demonstration, outgoing CEO Brian Cornell agreed to meet with the group on Monday, Jan. 19.
The faith leaders, some of whom traveled to Minneapolis from smaller towns around the state, are asking Target to publicly call for an immediate end to the ICE surge and for agents to leave the state, affirm Target stores as Fourth Amendment workplaces, and publicly call for Congress to stop funding ICE.
The group has delivered a letter to the company and congressional representatives signed by more than 400 clergy from Minnesota and more than 1,800 nationally with the same demands.
Protesters have also staged additional sit-ins at Twin Cities Target stores, with groups gathering Monday morning at a West St. Paul location to sing anti-ICE songs. The group chanted “Abolish ICE,” “Try to do the right thing,” and “Bring the families home.”
Over the weekend, protesters performed what they called “salt actions” at Target stores, with shoppers buying salt—a symbolic move because salt melts ice—and then slowly returning the item. A video showed an estimated 70 people waiting to return salt at an Edina Target.
Minneapolis Council Member Aurin Chowdhury criticized Target on social media for allowing a large group of CBP agents into a St. Paul store on Jan. 12. A caravan of agents led by Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino stopped at the store to use the restroom. An agent pointed a less-lethal weapon at a man in the store’s vestibule as the group left, according to independent journalist Ford Fisher.
Target has not responded to multiple requests for comment from media outlets over the past several days.
There have been multiple reports of ICE and border agents staging in Target parking lots and targeting shopping centers and grocery stores across the Twin Cities.
Paula Cole, a Richfield school board member, said 30% of Richfield Public Schools students are Latino, and 35% of students in the district weren’t in class on Jan. 8, the day after the arrests.
