AFTER ROLLING BACK DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION, TARGET FACES OUTRAGE OVER REPORTS OF ICE USING PARKING LOTS IN BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES

New York City Elected Officials, Faith and Community Leaders – led by Until Freedom – 
Demand Target Take Immediate Action to Keep ICE Enforcement Operations Away From Its Stores

NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, October 13, at 10:00 AM ET, elected officials, faith and community leaders will gather outside a Bronx Target following reports of ICE agents using the shopping center's parking lot as a staging area. Similar sightings have been reported at Target locations nationwide, fueling an ongoing fight by community organizers across the country demanding that Target take action to protect the communities it serves.

The action follows a disturbing ICE shooting in Marble Hill involving a vehicle with a five-year-old child inside, further heightening fears about aggressive immigration enforcement in residential neighborhoods and commercial spaces.

Our neighborhoods are not hunting grounds, and our children are not prey.

After rolling back its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments, Target once again finds itself facing questions about its treatment of Black and Brown communities. A corporation cannot claim to value its customers while remaining silent as those same communities face fear and intimidation.

Tuesday's action reinforces an October 5 letter from Bronx elected representatives urging Target and Kingsbridge Associates, the shopping center's owner, to prohibit ICE staging on their properties. The letter has reportedly gone unanswered.

Tamika D. Mallory, Co-Founder of Until Freedom:

"Target responded with a statement full of semantics, attempting to distance itself from this crisis. Claiming you have no formal agreement with ICE does not absolve you of responsibility. Where is the public condemnation? Where is the demand that ICE leave parking lots serving your stores?"

Murad Awawdeh, President & CEO, New York Immigration Coalition:

"Target must immediately end ICE's use of its Marble Hill parking lot as a staging ground for the abduction of our families. A corporation that profits from the very communities ICE is terrorizing has a responsibility to protect those communities in the Bronx and across the country. Target must be the good neighbor that every community needs by ensuring that it doesn't enable ICE's terror. New Yorkers won't be silent until Target ends its complicity with ICE."

Rev. Orsella Hughes, Pastor, Saint Luke A.M.E. Church:

"A moral society is one that cares for and looks out for one another. Target's silence is immoral in the face of ICE's actions. As Reverend Dr. King taught us, the silence of the good people is a betrayal. We need Target to stand with the community, end their silence, and demand that ICE stay away from their premises - everywhere."

NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams:

"People should be able to shop in their own neighborhoods without fearing that a trip to the store will put their family in danger. After abandoning its DEI commitments, Target needs to show Black and Brown communities that it values more than our dollars. Saying there is no agreement with ICE is not enough. Target must publicly condemn these aggressive tactics and work with property owners to keep its parking lots from becoming staging grounds for fear and intimidation. Our communities deserve safety, accountability, and action."

NY State Senator Gustavo Rivera :

""Target has a very important decision to make. Do they want to facilitate the continued terror campaign of ICE in our communities? Or will they stand with the neighbors they want and need as customers? Stopping ICE deployments from their parking lots is a necessary and essential first step to show us who they really are."

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson:

"Our communities deserve to feel safe in their own neighborhoods. The presence of ICE agents at this Target and in our communities is creating fear and undermining public safety. I am joining my colleagues in government, community leaders, and advocates in calling on Target to immediately end any association or cooperation with ICE and ensure that ICE agents are removed from its parking lot. We will not allow our residents to feel targeted simply for shopping for their families. We don't want ICE at Target, we don't want ICE in our communities, and we don't want ICE in our city."

Nantasha Williams, Deputy Speaker of the NY City Council:

"Target wants our money, but not our blues. You cannot profit from Black and Brown communities while refusing to stand up for their safety and dignity. Target has already betrayed our communities once. We will not allow them to turn their backs on us again."

Leaders are demanding that Target publicly condemn ICE's aggressive enforcement tactics, call for an end to ICE staging at its stores and shared properties, work with property owners to prohibit such operations wherever legally permissible, and respond immediately to the October 5 letter.

Tuesday's action is only the beginning. Organizers are preparing additional protests at Target stores across New York City and will continue escalating public pressure until meaningful action is taken.

Target cannot continue to profit from our communities while refusing to stand up for their safety and dignity. We will not allow business as usual while our communities are under attack.

WHAT:Press Conference with NYC Leaders to Demand Target Ban ICE Stagings

WHEN: Tuesday, October 13 at 10:00 AM ET

WHERE: Marble Hill Target
               40 West 225th St.
               Bronx, NY 10463

WHO:
Until Freedom Co-Founder, Tamika D. Mallory
NY Immigration Coalition President & CEO Murad Awawdeh
Rev. Kaji Dousa, Pastor, Park Avenue Christian Church
Rev. Orsella Hughes, Pastor, Saint Luke A.M.E. Church
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams
NYC Comptroller Mark Levine
NY State Senator Gustavo Rivera
Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson

Press Contact: Matt Mirandi -- [email protected]

SOURCE Until Freedom