Protests against federal immigration operations continued across New York City Saturday. Families rallied inside a Target store in Brooklyn, demanding the chain take a formal, public stance against U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. Several immigrant rights groups have accused the retail giant of cooperating with ICE operations.
“We are here to demand you stand up for families,” exclaimed demonstrator Daisy Chung. She was among those hoping to pressure Target to respond after reports that immigration agents detained two of its employees at a store in Minnesota.
Families protest inside against ICE inside a Target store in Brooklyn, demanding the retailer take a stand against the federal agency’s immigration crackdown (Image: NBC New York)
When asked, Target did not comment on the protests.
The arrests came after the deadly shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis in early January.
The families also condemned the arrest of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, whose detention by immigration authorities in Minnesota last week sparked international outcry. “I thought about who was going to tell him that he was going to be okay. Who hugged him?” asked demonstrator Rocío Valerio González. A federal judge on Saturday ordered the release of the child and his father.
A demonstration also took place outside The Public Theater in Lower Manhattan Saturday afternoon.
Artists and community leaders stood in solidarity with critics of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and its response to protesters, including Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal officers last week.
Critics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Minnesota crackdown rallied outside The Public Theater in lower Manhattan (Image: NBC New York)
“I think the impact that artists have, especially artists that people know and love, is that people will stop and listen,” said a demonstrator named Giovanna.
The two deadly shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis have drawn a massive national outcry. More than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies — including Target — signed a letter calling for an “immediate deescalation of tensions” after Pretti’s death.