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From family-run cafes to retail giants, businesses are increasingly coming into the crosshairs of President\u00a0Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0mass deportation campaign, whether it\u2019s public pressure for them to speak out against aggressive\u00a0immigration\u00a0enforcement or becoming the sites for such arrests themselves.<\/p>\n
In Minneapolis, where the Department of Homeland Security says it\u2019s carrying out its\u00a0largest operation ever, hotels, restaurants and other businesses\u00a0have temporarily closed their doors\u00a0or stopped accepting reservations amid\u00a0widespread protests.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, after the\u00a0U.S. Border Patrol shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies including Target, Best Buy and UnitedHealth\u00a0signed an open letter\u00a0calling for \u201can immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, that letter didn\u2019t name immigration enforcement directly, or point to recent arrests at businesses. Earlier this month, widely-circulated videos showed federal agents detaining two Target employees in Minnesota. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has rounded up day laborers\u00a0in Home Depot parking lots\u00a0and delivery workers on the street nationwide. And last year, federal agents detained 475 people during a raid at a\u00a0Hyundai plant\u00a0in Georgia.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know about\u00a0immigration enforcement in businesses.<\/p>\n
Anyone \u2014 including ICE \u2014 can enter public areas of a business as they wish. This can include restaurant dining sections, open parking lots, office lobbies and shopping aisles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe general public can go into a store for purposes of shopping, right? And so can law enforcement agents \u2014 without a warrant,\u201d said Jessie Hahn, senior counsel for labor and employment policy at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy nonprofit. As a result, immigration officials may try to question people, seize information and even make arrests in public-facing parts of a business.<\/p>\n
But to enter areas with a reasonable expectation of privacy \u2014 like a back office or a closed-off kitchen \u2014 ICE is supposed to have a judicial warrant, which must be signed by a judge from a specified court, and can be limited to certain days or parts of the business.<\/p>\n
Judicial warrants should not be confused with administrative warrants, which are signed by immigration officers.<\/p>\n
But in an\u00a0internal memo obtained by The Associated Press, ICE leadership stated administrative warrants were sufficient for federal officers to forcibly enter people\u2019s homes if there\u2019s a final order of removal. Hahn and other immigration rights lawyers say this upends\u00a0years of precedent\u00a0for federal agents\u2019 authority in private spaces \u2014 and violates \u201cbedrock principles\u201d of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n
Still, the easiest way for ICE to enter private spaces in businesses without a warrant is through consent from an employer, which could be as simple as letting an agent into certain parts of the property. The agency may also cite other \u201cexigent circumstances,\u201d Hahn notes, such as if they\u2019re in \u201chot pursuit\u201d of a certain individual.<\/p>\n
Beyond more sweeping workplace raids, enforcement against employers can also take the form of I-9 audits, which focus on verifying employees\u2019 authorization to work in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Since the start of Trump\u2019s second term, attorneys have pointed to an uptick in instances of ICE physically showing up to a place of business to initiate an I-9 audit. ICE has the authority to do this \u2014 but it marks a shift from prior enforcement, when audits more often began through writing like mailed notices.<\/p>\n
David Jones, a regional managing partner at labor and employment law firm Fisher Phillips in Memphis, said he\u2019s also seen immigration agents approach these audits with the same approach as recent raids.<\/p>\n
\u201cICE is still showing up in their full tactical gear without identifying themselves necessarily, just to do things like serve a notice of inspection,\u201d Jones said. Employers have three days to respond to an I-9 audit, but agents behaving aggressively might make some businesses think they need to act more immediately.<\/p>\n
If ICE shows up without a warrant, businesses can ask agents to leave \u2014 or potentially refuse service based on their own company policy, perhaps citing safety concerns or other disruptions caused by agents\u2019 presence. But there\u2019s no guarantee immigration officials will comply, especially in public spaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what we\u2019re seeing here in Minnesota. What we\u2019re seeing is they still conduct the activity,\u201d said John Medeiros, who leads corporate immigration practice at Minneapolis-based law firm Nilan Johnson Lewis.<\/p>\n
Because of this, Medeiros said, the question for many businesses becomes less about getting ICE to leave their property and more about what to do if ICE violates consent and other legal requirements.<\/p>\n
In Minneapolis \u2014 and\u00a0other cities\u00a0that have seen immigration enforcement surges,\u00a0including Chicago\u00a0and Los Angeles \u2014 some businesses have put up signs to label private spaces and set wider protocols for what to do when ICE arrives.<\/p>\n
Vanessa Matsis-McCready, associate general counsel and vice president of HR at Engage PEO, says she\u2019s also seen a nationwide uptick in interest for I-9 self-audits across sectors and additional emergency preparation.<\/p>\n
ICE\u2019s increased presence and forceful arrests at businesses has sparked public outcry, some of it directed at the companies themselves for not taking a strong enough stand.<\/p>\n
Some employers, particularly smaller business owners, are speaking out about ICE\u2019s impacts on their workers and customers. But a handful of bigger corporations have stayed largely silent, at least publicly, about enforcement making its way to their storefronts.<\/p>\n
Minneapolis-based Target has not commented on videos of federal agents detaining two of its employees earlier this month \u2014 although its incoming chief executive,\u00a0Michael Fiddelke,\u00a0sent a video message to the company\u2019s over 400,000 workers Monday calling recent violence \u201cincredibly painful,\u201d without directly mentioning immigration enforcement. He said Target was doing \u201ceverything we can to manage what\u2019s in our control.\u201d Fiddelke also signed the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce\u2019s letter calling for broader de-escalation, which got support from the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group of CEOs from more than 200 companies.<\/p>\n
Target is among companies that organizers with \u201cICE Out of Minnesota\u201d have asked to take stronger public stances over ICE\u2019s presence in the state. Others include Home Depot, whose\u00a0parking lots have become a known site of ICE raids\u00a0over the last year, and Hilton, which protestors said\u00a0was among brands of Twin City-area\u00a0hotels that have housed federal agents.<\/p>\n
Hilton and Home Depot didn\u2019t respond to comment requests over the activists\u2019 calls. Home Depot\u00a0previously denied\u00a0being involved in immigration operations.<\/p>\n
Several worker groups have been more outspoken. Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for a chapter of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, said members were shocked by a \u201cwidening pattern of unlawful ICE behavior\u201d and \u201crecognize that anti-immigrant policies hurt tourism, business, and their families.\u201d United Auto Workers also expressed solidarity with Minneapolis residents \u201cfighting back against the federal government\u2019s abuses and attacks on the working class.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hahn of the National Immigration Law Center noted some businesses are communicating through industry associations to avoid direct exposure to possible retaliation. Still, she stressed the importance of speaking publicly about the impacts of immigration enforcement overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that the raids are contributing to things like labor shortages and reduced foot traffic,\u201d Hahn said, adding that fears to push back on \u201cthis abuse of power from Trump could ultimately land us in a very different looking economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
____<\/p>\n
Associated Press Writer Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and Anne D\u2019Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Trumps #war #immigration #entangles #business #disaster #literal #site #contested #arrests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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