Target faces pressures to take a stand against ICE's actions in Minneapolis

New Target CEO Michael Fiddelke faces mounting unit to instrumentality a basal against actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis, wherever the retailer is headquartered.

In a public letter addressed to the enforcement connected Sunday, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten criticized Target for what she called its "silence" connected ICE's activities successful Minneapolis and demanded that the institution "clearly state" that it wants national migration agents to permission the city. 

"The AFT is profoundly acrophobic astir the company's soundlessness connected ICE's continuing operations successful Minneapolis pursuing ICE and Border Patrol agents' murders of 2 Minneapolis residents," she said. "As a institution that employs 34,000 Minnesotans, galore successful captious office positions, Target has heavy roots successful the Twin Cities and benefits substantially from a favorable narration with that community."

AFT's membership, who see teachers, nurses and nationalist employees, invests a full of astir $4 trillion successful pension funds that ain 6.8 cardinal shares of Target stock, portion consumers are besides "an important addressable market" for the company, Weingarten said.

Target appointed Fiddelke, who started his vocation astatine the institution arsenic an intern, arsenic CEO past summer, and this week marks his archetypal clip astatine the helm of the company. In a statement connected Monday, Fiddelke outlined Target's concern priorities, but helium refrained from specifically commenting connected ICE's activities successful Minneapolis. 

Such reticence could backfire for Target, Weingarten said, adding that Fiddelke's "response to the existent situation volition specify your clip arsenic CEO" of the company. 

Fiddelke was 1 of much than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies who signed a joint letter in January demanding the "immediate de-escalation of tensions." But they omitted immoderate notation to ICE oregon its tactics aft 2 borderline patrol fatally shot Minneapolis nonmigratory Alex Pretti. 

U.S. migration agents besides fatally shot Minneapolis nonmigratory Renee Good connected Jan. 7.

Weingarten called the missive a "productive archetypal step," but said "it falls acold abbreviated of showing existent enactment to extremity ICE's concern successful Minnesota."

Target didn't instantly reply to a petition for comment.

Alison Taylor, a prof of Business and Society astatine NYU Stern School of Business, told CBS News that the concern assemblage is apt to travel nether continuing unit related to the events successful Minneapolis. 

"Everyone who is aggravated astir this wanted to spot condemnation, names of victims, and a stronger callout that this should stop, and I don't deliberation anybody saw that," she said. 

ICE agents person staged operations successful Target parking lots, making them a fashionable tract of demonstrations for anti-ICE activists. ICE past period besides detained 2 Target employees astatine 1 of its Minneapolis store.

Protestors connected Monday rallied against ICE successful beforehand of Target's Minneapolis headquarters, 36 hours aft demonstrators showed up astatine 23 of the retailer's stores successful the area. 

Edited by Alain Sherter

In:

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Target