U.S. businesses between a rock and a hard place

Stores are pressured to respond to ICE operation while also becoming targets of it.

- BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

GREGORY BOVINO of the Border Patrol appears at a gas station in Minneapolis.

MADISON THORN Anadolu

From family-run cafes to retail giants, businesses are increasingly coming into the crosshairs of President Trump's mass deportation campaign, whether it's public pressure for them to speak out against aggressive immigration enforcement or becoming the sites for such arrests themselves.

In Minneapolis, where the Department of Homeland Security says it's carrying out its largest operation ever, hotels, restaurants and other businesses have temporarily closed their doors or stopped accepting reservations amid widespread protests.

On Sunday, the day after the U.S. Border Patrol shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, more than 60 chief executives of Minnesotabased companies including Target, Best Buy and UnitedHealth signed an open letter calling for "an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions."

Still, that letter didn't 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 in Home Depot parking lots and delivery workers on the street nationwide. And last year, federal agents detained 475 people during a raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia.

Here's what we know about immigration enforcement in businesses.

Anyone including ICE can enter public areas of a business as they wish. This can include restaurant dining sections, open parking lots, office lobbies and shopping aisles.