ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images
- Hundreds of Target employees signed a letter urging the company to bar ICE from its stores.
- The Friday letter also outlined several steps the workers want the company to take in response to ICE's actions.
- Incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke said Monday the violence in Minneapolis was "incredibly painful."
Target employees are pushing the company to take a firmer stand against ICE.
In a letter emailed to management on Friday, employees called on Target to "do the right thing" and bar federal immigration authorities from its stores. The letter, viewed by Business Insider, was signed by 284 employees, many of whom said they were residents of Minnesota, where Target is headquartered.
"Target's continued inaction in the face of the current administration puts all of us at risk of more harm in our workplaces and represents a moral failure to protect those in our community," said the letter, which included current CEO Brian Cornell and incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke as recipients.
A day after the letter was sent, federal agents shot and killed a second Minneapolis resident, Alex Pretti, further complicating tensions between protesters and the Trump administration.
The letter also highlights the January 7 death of Renee Good after her encounter with immigration authorities in Minneapolis. No charges have been filed in connection with Good's death, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the officer fired in self-defense, while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has called for a transparent investigation.
Target has made several public moves since the letter was sent, including joining a statement with more than 60 other Minnesota businesses calling for de-escalation. Cornell also met with local faith leaders on Thursday to discuss the situation.
On Monday, Fiddelke sent a video message to staff that did not mention Trump or ICE by name, but said "the violence and loss of life in our community is incredibly painful."
The Minneapolis-based retailer employs roughly 7,000 corporate employees at its headquarters offices, among its 440,000 employees across the US and around the world. The company also operates roughly 50 stores in the Twin Cities market.
The letter from employees highlighted Target's scaled-back LGBTQ+ Pride collection, its wind-down of certain DEI initiatives, and its donation to Donald Trump's inauguration fund as examples of how the company has "abandoned its community" in recent years.
Some of the demands may be outside Target's legal ability to fully address, such as the calls on Target to block immigration authorities from its properties.
Corporate immigration attorney John Medeiros told the AP last week that law enforcement officers are typically allowed to operate in publicly accessible areas of retail businesses, like parking lots and sales floors.
Guidance from the Minnesota Attorney General's office says employees should not interfere with agents' lawful activities at their places of business, but neither are workers required to answer questions or tell agents whether a certain person is on the premises.
In a memo last week, chief HR officer Melissa Kremer said Target "does not have cooperative agreements with any immigration enforcement agency."
Read the full letter from employees here:
TO: Target LeadersFROM: Concerned Team MembersDate: Fri, Jan 23rd, 2026Subject: Urgent Actions to Protect our Communities from ICEWe, the undersigned, are writing this letter to express solidarity with our neighbors, guests, and team members targeted by the violence perpetrated by agencies like ICE, and demand urgent action from the Target Enterprise and its leadership.Target's previous acts have left many rightfully concerned for its integrity. Target abandoned its community with its scale back of its Pride collection, year after year, and its winding down of DEI initiatives across the Enterprise. Then, Target went beyond mere "business decisions" when it directly funded the current administration through its $1 million donation to Donald Trump's inauguration officially stating "We work with elected officials at all levels of government to provide the best retail experience for the more than 2,000 communities we're proud to serve", despite the fact that Target has never previously donated to an inauguration. On the contrary, the current ICE invasion lays bare the contempt the current administration has for the communities Target lives in as starkly shown with the cold blooded murder of our neighbor Renee Good (in which, ICE denied her accessible, lifesaving care after she had been shot by Jonathan Ross) or Trump's threats to invoke the insurrection act against a population of peaceful protesters.In the face of this tyranny, continued silence from our leaders will never make us safer, as already evidenced by ICE's kidnapping and assault of two Target Richfield employees who were both minors and citizens. Target's continued inaction in the face of the current administration puts all of us at risk of more harm in our workplaces and represents a moral failure to protect those in our community.Despite its previous failures, Target still has ample opportunity to do the right thing. In line with the demands of community leaders like ICE Out MN and ISAIAH, we, the undersigned, demand the following immediate actions from our leaders:
- Issue a public statement from the leadership team and enterprise to call for an immediate end to the ICE "surge" into MN and for ICE to leave the state.
- Exercise Target's Fourth Amendment right to its maximum and keep ICE out of Target stores, properties, and parking lots;
- Update training and policy to enable team members such as AP and Corporate Security to trespass, de-escalate, and remove any ICE agents operating illegally without a judicial warrant.
- Publicly post signage denying entry into Target properties to immigration authorities.
- Cut current and future funding from Target and its affiliates to the current administration and any causes that support ICE and its occupation of the Twin Cities.
- Follow the recommendations of local community leaders in what Target can do to help heal the damage our previous inaction has brought, as well as future steps of what Target can do to support our communities going forward.
If Target takes these steps, it will find that it will not be in this fight alone: The city of Minneapolis already has a separation ordinance to keep ICE off of its property and prevent collaboration between MPD and ICE and has opened litigation to challenge the current admistration's illegal use of force; Costco and other companies have set the example of how for-profit companies can stand their ground in this administration; Over a hundred faith leaders have come together and have arranged to meet with Target leaders to advocate for our neighbors (and they continue to fight, even as Target leaders fail to take their urgent concerns and reschedules their meeting); On Saturday, at least tens of thousands of residents took to the streets at Powderhorn Park and Lake Street to demand ICE out of the Twin Cities; And now, on the date that this letter is sent, residents and workers across the Twin Cities are joining in protest in solidarity with local labor unions that have organized a day of "no work, no school, no shopping" for the 23rd , where the Twin Cities community is showing its collective power to fight back effectively against the rise of authoritarianism.Strength comes in open solidarity, and the leaders of Target still have the chance to do the right thing. The Twin Cities and Target Team Members already stand together, but leadership must act now.Signed, 275+ Members of the Target Team
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