Target Action: Ice Out for Good!
Wednesday January 28th and Saturday, January 31, 2026
Bellingham Target store, Bellis Fair Mall, 30 Bellis Fair Pkwy, Bellingham, WA 98226
The Donald Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota began in December 2025 and continued through February 12, deploying at its peak approximately 3,000 federal agents across the state. The operation marked a significant escalation in the severity of tactics used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including reported harassment and intimidation of legal observers. Accounts from the surge describe widespread racial profiling of Black, Brown, and Indigenous residents, the detention of U.S. citizens, and the arrest of roughly 3,000–4,000 people.
The operation has been linked to several high-profile and controversial incidents, including the alleged kidnapping of five-year-old Liam Ramos, the death of Victor Manuel Diaz while in ICE custody, and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
In response, Bellingham Troublemakers announced a campaign to pressure their local Target Corporation store in solidarity with Unidos MN and ICE OUT of MN.
On Wednesday, January 28th a small delegation entered the Bellingham Target store and asked to speak with a manager. Letters were provided for delivery to the CEO of the company. Our demands were:
Publicly call for an immediate end to the ICE “surge” into MN and for ICE to leave the state.
Affirm Target stores as 4th amendment workplaces, publicly posting signage denying entrance to immigration agents without signed judicial warrants and training staff on how to respond if immigration agents enter illegally.
Publicly call for Congress to stop funding ICE.
Demand any federal officer who kills a civilian be held legally accountable.
Then on January 31st, 65 members of Bellingham Troublemakers took over the store with a flash mob and somber, dignified procession through the store. We moved slowly in single file, warmly engaging guests and staff accompanied by the sound of a prominent snare drum.
We stopped and gathered at the customer service desk, holding signs: TARGET! Kick Out ICE!
There, a small delegation engaged the manager to present our demands, request a call with their supervisor, and provide a letter to be delivered to Target’s CEO. The manager insisted he could not get through on the phone. To his dismay, we began another loop, slowly through the store. We then gathered in the area just in front of the cash registers.
Eventually, a single Bellingham Police officer showed up, warned that we were being asked to leave and would be risking arrest if we didn’t. We moved into the mall for a brief picket line and chanting session before heading outside to the front of the store, where we gathered for a short post action grounding.
Media: Bellingham Herald
