Activists at Target demand ‘ICE out now!’

Philadelphia

Shoppers at the Mifflin Street Target store in South Philadelphia witnessed a surprise protest on Feb. 5 when over 100 activists gathered near the registers and started chanting “ICE out of Target now!”

After chanting, singing and speaking for an hour, over half of the demonstrators left when threatened with arrest. Police zip-tied the hands of the remaining 40 protesters who refused to leave. One by one, cops led them outside, where the crowd greeted them with cheers and chants, before cops put them in waiting police vehicles.

No ICE Philly organized picketing at a number of Target stores in the few weeks prior. The protests were a response to calls from Target workers and activists in Minnesota calling for company officials to publicly oppose Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) terror activities in Minnesota and deny ICE agents access to Target stores and parking lots.

Target, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, had a net revenue of over $106.57 billion in 2025. Target gave $1 million to President Trump’s Inaugural Committee. Federal agents have used Target stores for staging, sometimes seizing migrant workers inside the stores. Community members accuse the company of cooperating with the ferocious federal crackdown in Minnesota and other states. 

Target’s CEO Michael Fiddelke is an executive board member of the National Retail Federation, which lobbied on behalf of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which “allocated more than $170 billion over four years to deport one million immigrants annually.” (prospect.org, Feb. 4)

After Target rolled back Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to fall in line with Trump’s policies, many people were already boycotting the store. According to website Stock Analysis, Target’s revenue has declined 1.75% in the last 12 months.

Anti-DEI and now ICE: two reasons to put a bull’s-eye on Target.