For over a decade, Dylan Alverson has owned a café on a quiet street in Minneapolis. But a surge of federal immigration agents has shattered that peace, bringing aggressive arrests, protests, and a death half a mile away.
“One second,” Mr. Alverson says, his voice seizing up in a phone interview as he stands outside, close to his eatery, Modern Times. “I’m getting hit with a wind of tear gas right now.” He says he just witnessed federal agents pulling a woman out of her car.
Days before, he says, two of his employees, both U.S. citizens, were detained by federal law enforcement, and then released. The grounds of those arrests are unclear.
Why We Wrote This
Some businesses in Minneapolis and other cities are refusing entry to federal immigration officers, reflecting local dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s deportation campaign as tensions continue to escalate.
In recent weeks, Mr. Alverson decided to take a stand. He posted a notice on his restaurant door that says Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection cannot enter – at least not without a warrant signed by a judge.
“Private Property. No ICE or CBP Access,” the top of the red-and-yellow sign reads. Other local businesses have similar signs expressing support for the immigrant community.
Lawyers say those signs could carry limited legal weight. But symbolically, at least, that resistance seems to match growing support for immigrants nationally, as well as dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s crackdown, as shown in polls.
“It’s insane,” Mr. Alverson says. “We’re trying to live and work in our neighborhood that has already seen large-scale violence and police presence.”
Indeed, protests and property damage rocked the city following the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a local police officer. Last week, an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good in her car, sparking anti-ICE protests here and nationwide. On Wednesday, a federal officer shot another person during an attempted apprehension. The government claims the officers acted defensively both times. As arrests and clashes between federal officers and protesters continue, President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which could allow the use of the military here as police.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security had planned to send 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis area. Now, “hundreds” more are on the way, said Secretary Kristi Noem. The Trump administration says the show of force is necessary to accomplish its goal of arresting unauthorized immigrant criminals, cracking down on fraud, and protecting agents from activists impeding their work.
Yet the federal agents’ aggressive conduct, including the firing of tear gas, breaking of car windows, and the recent shootings, has prompted strong public opposition. Tens of thousands marched here in protest last weekend, with over 1,000 corresponding rallies organized across the country.
Nationally, an untold number of businesses are losing employees to arrests by immigration officers. Some workers are staying home out of fear of detention, immigrant advocates say. Yet companies are also faced with physical and reputational damage stemming from public perceptions of their immigration stance.
In Minnesota, for instance, the Hilton hotel chain distanced itself from a local branch after the Trump administration claimed that employees canceled the reservations of its federal officers.
Significance of signs
In cities like Minneapolis; Portland, Oregon; and Washington, where the Trump administration has launched intensive immigration and public safety campaigns, signs seeking to deny ICE access have cropped up on storefront windows and doors. Some signs ask for warrants signed by a judge, not just by ICE officials.
Generally, federal immigration law enforcement needs a warrant signed by a federal judge to enter private businesses while searching for unauthorized immigrants. That’s because the Fourth Amendment requires the government to show “probable cause” to protect people from unreasonable searches and seizures. Storefront signs demanding these judicial warrants emphasize this legal standard.
“It’s not that the absence of a sign somehow gives ICE some authority to enter. … The sign’s not necessary,” says Lucas Guttentag, a Stanford Law School professor and former Homeland Security official.
“An employer could, in theory, give consent to allow law enforcement to enter,” he says, but the posted notice makes clear that the employer does not consent. Mr. Alverson’s door sign, for instance, notes that ICE’s administrative warrants aren’t valid there.
Sarah Matusek/The Christian Science Monitor
ICE officers sometimes obtain those administrative warrants to arrest and detain people for immigration violations.
However, administrative warrants aren’t signed by a judge; the agency issues them. The government generally can’t enter homes or other private spaces on an administrative warrant alone, unless the officer obtains consent.
Yet what constitutes “private” space isn’t always straightforward, says attorney Dan Gividen, who specializes in criminal and immigration law in Allen, Texas. Think of parts of buildings where anyone can walk in from the street and pass through, he says.
“The cornerstone of the Fourth Amendment jurisprudence is reasonableness and expectations of privacy,” says Mr. Gividen, a former prosecutor for ICE and the Justice Department. “There’s definitely an insanely reduced amount of privacy expectation in that public atrium.”
In response to a request for comment, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of Homeland Security, pointed the Monitor to Title 8 of the U.S. Code as ICE’s legal authority, which enumerates the powers of immigration officers and employees.
Business damage
Businesses have faced property damage amid anti-ICE protests over the past year. In Los Angeles this past June, rioters torched driverless cars. After Ms. Good’s shooting in Minneapolis, protesters caused some $6,000 in window damage and graffiti at a downtown hotel, city officials said.
Local and federal officials in both instances condemned the violence that damaged businesses, while state officials in Minnesota and California encouraged peaceful protests. The Small Business Administration, however, citing anti-ICE hostility, announced last weekend plans to relocate its Minneapolis office.
Reputational damage is a concern, particularly for corporations operating across the country that are trying to retain customers of all political stripes.
Some companies linked to immigration enforcement in the news have tried to distance themselves from Homeland Security operations.
Following immigrant arrests reported outside at least a dozen Home Depot stores over the past year, protests cropped up at many of the massive home-improvement store’s locations, from Connecticut to California. Home Depot parking lots have long been informal gathering spots for day laborers, some of whom are unauthorized immigrants seeking work. At some sites, protesters would buy cheap ice scrapers and then return them, to disrupt business by lengthening checkout lines. Advocates in Chicago, another recent hub of immigration enforcement, have called for boycotts of the company.
Home Depot told the Monitor it does not coordinate with ICE, CBP, or other federal agencies on immigration enforcement. Neither is the company notified when operations are planned.
“We cannot legally interfere with federal enforcement agencies, including preventing them from coming into our stores and parking lots,” said spokesperson MaKiah Jordan in an email. “As you might imagine, any law enforcement activity has the potential to be disruptive to a store, particularly on the day it occurs. While there is some impact on the affected stores, it is not a material impact to the overall business.”
A Minnesota hotel this month also came under fire – this time from the government and its supporters.
On Jan. 5, the Department of Homeland Security posted pictures on its X account claiming that a Hilton-affiliated hotel had canceled reservations of its law enforcement officers. The same day, Hilton said in a statement that the hotel was “independently owned and operated,” and didn’t reflect “Hilton values.” The global brand also pointed to a statement from the hotel, which apologized and said it does not discriminate.
The next day, Nick Sortor, an influencer aligned with the Trump administration, posted a video of himself in a Border Patrol hat at a Hampton by Hilton hotel south of Minneapolis. After Mr. Sortor asked a front desk worker to reserve 10 rooms for Homeland Security, the video shows the hotel worker refusing to serve Mr. Sortor.
Referencing a “recent video,” Hilton then published another post, saying it was “taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems.” Hilton has not responded to the Monitor’s questions about photos appearing to show a crane removing a hotel sign.
Big brands that operate in multiple countries have to worry about keeping liberals and conservatives interested in their business, says Kimberly Whitler, a professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. When companies pick a side on politically divisive issues, she says, that can alienate customers, investors, and employees who disagree.
“If you only have one shop in a very liberal or very conservative area, your employees are at the same level as your consumers,” Dr. Whitler adds.
In Minneapolis, Mr. Alverson, the restaurant owner, says he isn’t worried about deterring pro-ICE guests. He doubts there’s much support for the federal agency in his area.
Despite the chaos, Mr. Alverson says restaurants like his can’t afford to close.
“I have 27 employees that are relying on me,” he says. “I will stay open as long as I can.”
Sarah Matusek reported from Minneapolis, and Victoria Hoffmann contributed reporting from Boston.
