Local reporting shows economic harm statewide — while business leaders, corporations, and Republican lawmakers remain silent.

ICE Enforcement Is Disrupting Minnesota’s Economy

• Minnesota is experiencing an unprecedented federal ICE surge, bringing thousands of agents into the state and dramatically increasing enforcement actions in immigrant communities.
• The surge is disrupting Minnesota’s economy by closing businesses, reducing customer traffic, destabilizing the workforce, and creating fear that keeps workers and consumers home.

Statewide Economic & Workforce Impacts

Minnesota is facing a statewide economic crisis tied to ICE enforcement. 

• Immigration crackdowns were already affecting Minnesota’s workforce before the federal surge. Immigrants make up 1 in 12 residents but nearly 1 in 9 workers statewide, contributing disproportionately to health care, child care, construction, food production, manufacturing, and service industries.
• Immigrant-owned businesses across the state are reporting sharp drops in customer traffic, lost revenue, reduced hours, and temporary closures as employees and customers stay home out of fear.
• Along key immigrant business corridors in Minneapolis and St. Paul, roughly 80 % of immigrant-owned businesses closed in a single week, with many reporting sales down 50–100 %. 
• Greater Minnesota impacts: Restaurants in Rochester have limited operations or closed due to staffing shortages and fear, while Somali-owned businesses in St. Cloud saw significant declines in foot traffic following confrontations with ICE agents. 
• This disruption is bleeding into the broader labor market. Federal immigration operations have been reported on or near active construction jobsites, creating uncertainty for workers, employers, and consumers in a sector that depends on immigrant labor. 
• Many employees have reduced hours or avoided work entirely due to fear of detention, worsening labor shortages and directly impacting business operations.
• Events and activities are being canceled or postponed in response to ICE operations and fear for the safety of attendees. A running list of Twin Cities events shows venues closing and scheduled activities scrapped amid federal enforcement presence. 
• Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Matt Varilek confirmed that ICE’s actions are having a “negative impact” on “businesses large and small,” and said DEED has heard that some businesses, especially those owned by people of color targeted by federal action, will struggle to sustain payroll in the coming weeks. 
• Varilek warned that national immigration policy changes reducing international talent add even more strain to an already tight labor market.

 Small Businesses Are Pushing Back to Support Workers & Communities

• Many Minnesota small businesses are resisting ICE enforcement and stepping up to support workers and neighbors rather than just shutting down.
• In Minneapolis, a McDonald’s security guard refused ICE entry without a warrant, a widely reported act of workplace resistance.
• Wrecktangle Pizza’s community support drew retaliation from ICE. After the restaurant’s “buy a pizza, give a pizza” fundraiser raised more than $83,000 to support families affected by enforcement, federal agents attempted to enter the restaurant without a warrant and, when denied entry by staff and community members, deployed chemical agents outside the business before leaving. 
• Restaurants across Minneapolis and St. Paul are organizing food donations, mutual aid fundraisers, and solidarity actions to benefit immigrant families.
• Multiple establishments have temporarily closed, reduced hours, or redirected operations both to protect workers and to highlight the harm ICE enforcement is causing to staff, customers, and neighborhoods. 

Silence From Business Organizations

• The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has not issued a public statement addressing the economic harm or workforce disruptions caused by the ICE surge.

Large Corporations Despite Workforce Effects are Remaining Silent

• Major Minnesota employers including Target, General Mills, Caribou Coffee, Best Buy, 3M, UnitedHealth Group, Ecolab, and Hormel have yet to comment on the federal surge of immigration enforcement despite certain workforce impacts, economic harm, and traumatized communities.
• Employers like General Mills and Target have even reported ICE presence on their properties, including the violent arrest of two Target employees, but have not issued substantive public statements addressing employee safety, customer concerns, or economic impacts.
• At a Target store in Richfield, federal agents entered without a warrant, and illegally detained two U.S citizens working there. Target has not issued a public statement on the incident.
• Hilton Hotels faced controversy in Minnesota after a franchise location canceled reservations for ICE and DHS agents amid the enforcement surge, leading the company to remove that property from its system, yet Hilton has not offered a broader public statement on how ICE activity at or near its hotels is affecting workers, guests, or communities. 

Republican Lawmakers Have Not Addressed Business Impacts

• Minnesota Republican lawmakers have largely remained silent on the documented economic strain facing local businesses and workers, even as enforcement actions escalate statewide.
• Many Republican leaders have defended ICE operations without acknowledging the harm to Minnesota’s economy, workforce, and key industries.

Bottom Line

• The federal ICE surge is causing a statewide economic crisis.
• Businesses along key corridors in Minneapolis and St. Paul are closing, with sales down 50–100 %, while businesses in Rochester, Wilmar, Alexandria, and St. Cloud are also experiencing impacts. 
• Workers in health care, child care, construction, food production, and service industries are staying home or leaving jobs due to fear of detention.
• Small businesses are pushing back with mutual aid, and workplace resistance, but business organizations, major corporations, and Republican lawmakers remain silent, leaving communities to absorb the economic and social fallout.
• These ripple effects extend statewide, threatening the stability of Minnesota’s economy and workforce across both metro and greater Minnesota communities.