CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Target, a Minneapolis-based national retailer, is the target of criticism over its reported support for ICE agents in the city.
And that condemnation has reached Albemarle County, where, Friday evening, activist group Indivisible Charlottesville has organized a protest at the company’s Hollymead location from 5-6 p.m.
“Target is a symbol of Minnesota, a homegrown corporation that is the state’s 4th largest employer. But Target is facilitating the brutal and often illegal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” a statement from the group said.
The group statement said Target is allowing ICE and its allied agencies to use the store parking lots as staging areas for their operations. It also said Target is allowing the agents on their property to arrest workers and customers without warrants.
“Minnesota is being occupied by an invading army of ICE thugs who don’t comply with federal laws or constitutional protections and have been told (incorrectly) that they have absolute immunity to kill (e.g. Renee Good), kidnap, and maim residents as they wish,” the release said.
The corporate press page on Target’s website, where the company posts press releases and statements, does not include any mention of ICE or the situation in Minneapolis, where Renee Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.
The company did not immediately reply to a request for a comment from Cville Right Now.
The protestors demand Target stop allowing the warrantless arrests on their property, and publicly call for ICE to leave Minnesota. They are urging Congress to stop funding ICE. Under Trump, ICE’s budget has soared to $85 billion, making it the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency. A decade ago, ICE’s federal budget was under $6 billion.
