Employees of Target retail locations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region have reportedly been calling out of work more frequently in recent weeks following the arrest of two of their colleagues who were swept up in immigration raids despite being US citizens.
Meanwhile, corporate workers at Target, which is headquartered in the Twin Cities area, have also postponed scheduled in-office work by weeks due to rising tensions in Minneapolis, which has become a flashpoint for recent clashes between federal agents and protesters.
Inside the company, frustration has been growing among employees who say Target’s public silence has left them confused and anxious as enforcement activity continues around their workplaces, according to Bloomberg News.
Workers have used internal Slack channels to vent anger and fear, according to people familiar with the discussions, while some have circulated a letter to the company’s ethics team asking for clearer guidance on how to handle encounters with federal agents.
Target has told employees internally that it does not have cooperative agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and that workers should not interfere with federal agents, people familiar with the guidance told Bloomberg News.
Staff have reportedly been instructed to focus on de-escalation and to understand that agents are legally permitted to be in public-facing areas such as parking lots and sales floors, but are not allowed to enter private spaces like back rooms without a warrant.
At several Twin Cities stores, employees have told managers they were too afraid to come into work, citing the presence of immigration agents in parking lots and inside nearby retail locations, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News.
Not all workers agree on how the company should respond.
Some employees have reportedly argued internally that remaining neutral is the safest option, warning that a public stance against immigration enforcement could make Target a bigger focus for federal operations and further disrupt store operations and staffing.
The Twin Cities have been on edge since an ICE agent fatally shot Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, during an immigration enforcement operation in south Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
A day after the shooting, federal agents descended on a Target store in Richfield and briefly detained two employees — both 17-year-old US citizens — as they worked in the parking lot and vestibule, according to local officials and witness footage.
One of the teens can be heard on video shouting about his citizenship as he was forced to the ground and placed into an agency vehicle.
Both youths were later released.
One was reportedly taken briefly to a detention facility before being let go, while another was dropped off at a different parking lot than Target’s after the federal agents realized he was a US citizen.
Tense scenes have continued to make headlines in Minnesota, with ICE agents earlier this week dragging a US citizen out of his home in his underwear during a search for sex offenders who allegedly lived at the property.
The Post has sought comment from Target and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.
