{"id":22890,"date":"2026-02-01T23:23:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idavox.com\/?p=22890"},"modified":"2026-02-01T23:23:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:23:23","slug":"protests-staged-at-philly-target-stores-to-demand-the-end-of-the-companys-passive-response-to-ice-at-its-facilities-and-to-call-for-their-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idavox.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/01\/protests-staged-at-philly-target-stores-to-demand-the-end-of-the-companys-passive-response-to-ice-at-its-facilities-and-to-call-for-their-removal\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests staged at Philly Target stores to demand the end of the company’s passive response to ICE at its facilities and to call for their removal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A boycott on Target because of their slowed down their DEI policies is still in effect, but then they did this.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Innocent Bystander<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PHILADELPHIA, PA–  NO ICE Philly, a rather recently formed, forward-facing group, quickly organized seven demonstrations after anti-ICE groups and demonstrators in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area put out a call to protest the chain store Target in order to put pressure on the Minnesota-headquartered corporation to implement policies that protect its workers and workplaces, and to not allow ICE to gather, act, arrest, and disappear people — usually non-Whites — who shop and even lawfully work there — and to get ICE to leave the state and end its operations “surge” there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds showed up in below-freezing weather and on short notice at the seven Target demonstration sites located in Rittenhouse, Graduate Hospital, Fairmount, Port Richmond, City Avenue, and Southeast South Philly neighborhoods. (The South Philly location is known to have ICE sweeps, where Day Laborers are rounded up, and a multi-ethnic immigrant community roughly begins a half-mile away.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demonstrations took place early on the evening of Tuesday, January 27th and involved chants including, “FUCK ICE!\u201d along with informational and outdoor picket lines, sometimes moving, at Target entrances.  In addition to the pickets, protestors entered stores to conduct a type of “shop-in” direct action where these “consumers” — in rotating teams — would slowly or very slowly buy one low-cost item related to an “ICE” theme such as salt, ice scrapers, anti-freeze, windshield de-icer, ice cube trays, hot\/cold packs, “ice” themed gum or mints, or even spice mixes with high salt content such as sweet & sour items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After purchasing, protest purchasers would then go to the Target store’s refund department and return their item, requesting their purchase be ideally returned in coins. This type of mass action is modeled on the recent example of Home Depot where certain actions like this went viral, such as in a central Brooklyn (NY) and metro Los Angeles, multi-heritage, working-class communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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