By Sarah Nassauer and Hanna Krueger
The federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota has descended on the stores and parking lots of Target, putting the hometown retailer in a tough political spot as it faces pressure from some locals to keep border protection agents out.
That pressure came to a head after immigration officials detained two Target employees inside the vestibule of a suburban store late last week after what appeared to be some verbal sparring in the parking lot. "I'm literally a U.S. citizen!" one shouted as they escorted him into a van.
Both are American citizens and were later released, local officials say. In a social-media post on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said an individual in the video had been "arrested for assaulting a federal law enforcement offers [sic]."
Video of the incident quickly circulated, sparking an outcry on social-media and calls from local residents and politicians for Target to protect employees and customers from immigration agents patrolling its store lots. On Saturday, demonstrators protested outside the Richfield, Minn., store, demanding a response from Target and additional training for staff when interacting with immigration officials.
A spokesman for Target declined to comment, but retailers have said they can't stop law enforcement, including immigration officials from entering public areas of stores and parking lots.
Target has issued no public statement on the Richfield incident or other scenes at Target stores caught on video. In one, immigration officials leave a Target bathroom as shoppers and activists with whistles yell at them to leave the store.
As a hometown business, "it's odd for them at this moment, when Minnesota is under sort of occupation, that they are silent," said Ben Whalen, a former Richfield City Council member and part of a group that helped organize the protest outside the Target store on Saturday. The group met with the store's manager to ask for measures, including training employees to inform immigration agents that they can't enter private areas without a signed warrant.
Target is far from the only company wrestling with how to navigate the presence of immigration agents on their property. Home Depot parking lots have been a frequent target since the summer. Day laborers, many of them immigrants, have gathered there for years looking for temporary construction work. Some activists have asked the company to stop the raids.
In the Twin Cities area, immigration officials detained at least two people inside Walmart stores over the past week. Big-box store parking lots are a frequent gathering spot for immigration officials as they buy food, use the restroom and wait for commands, according to city officials and anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement activists.
A spokeswoman for Walmart declined to comment on the incidents in its stores or the company's law-enforcement policies.
In Richfield, a working-class suburb south of Minneapolis where around 20% of the population is Hispanic, some residents are asking how businesses can protect their customers and workers from federal immigration officials, said Michael Howard, a Minnesota state representative for the area. Target has become a frequent location for immigration official sightings in recent days, said Howard, a Democrat.
"We have been communicating with Target to understand what their practices are," he said.
The Trump administration has also put pressure on companies to refrain from impeding immigration officials' work. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security posted to X that Hilton had launched a "coordinated campaign" to refuse hotel rooms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. It attached screenshots appearing to show a Hampton Inn outside Minneapolis canceling the reservations of ICE and other law-enforcement agents.
Less than 24 hours after the first posts began circulating, Hilton -- which owns the Hampton Inn brand -- removed the hotel from its system. Hilton reiterated that its properties were open to everyone and the individual hotel's management company, Everpeak Hospitality, apologized and said that it didn't discriminate against agencies or individuals.
For a company like Target, such moves aren't as simple. Target is arguably the city's best-known corporate brand. Its red bull's-eye symbol adorns Target Field, the Target Center arena and the downtown Target Plaza complex that houses the retailer's headquarters.
Target is advising store workers to stay out of the way of immigration officials or law enforcement for their own safety, said one Minneapolis store worker. The company also has reinforced that law enforcement isn't allowed in private areas, such as back offices, without a warrant, the worker said. Some Target stores are pulling Latino workers off "drive-up duty," when workers bring online orders directly to shoppers' cars in the parking lot, the staffer said.
Retail executives say they have little control over law enforcement in their stores and parking lots, areas that are generally open to the public.
"Because our parking lots and stores are unrestricted spaces that allow for the free flow of people in and out, federal law enforcement agents aren't legally required to present a warrant to enter these areas," said Sara Gorman, a Home Depot spokeswoman. The company isn't involved in immigration actions and doesn't coordinate with ICE or CBP, she said.
Target has confronted several complex moments in the midst of social upheaval in recent years. After George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis in 2020, several local Target stores were damaged during unrest and looting. One of its oldest stores in South Minneapolis was closed for six months for repairs.
In 2023, it stopped selling certain items related to Gay Pride month that offended some customers and social-media commenters, a decision that prompted others to say the retailer had caved in to pressure from anti-LGBTQ voices. Last year it attributed lower sales partly to a backlash to its retreat from some corporate diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at Sarah.Nassauer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2026 20:25 ET (01:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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