American Federation of Teachers launches boycott against Target, claims retailer 'remained silent' on ICE
Weingarten wants a back-to-school boycott because Target would not condemn ICE. Assaults on officers are up 1,300%. Death threats are up 8,000%.
Summary
- Fox News reports AFT President Randi Weingarten launched a nationwide back-to-school boycott of Target, whose headquarters is in Minnesota, after the company 'remained silent' on ICE operations. The union sent CEO Michael Fiddelke letters in February and March, then opened a 'Shop Smart, Not Target' site on Wednesday.
- Weingarten said 'seven months since the murders of Alex Pretti and Renée Good, masked ICE agents are still in our streets, our schools and our communities,' calling enforcement an 'illegal and immoral assault.'
- A DHS/ICE spokesperson told Fox that ICE 'enforces federal immigration laws,' that 'Target is not a sensitive location,' and that current policy already guides actions near schools. The spokesperson said ICE did not target schools.
- ICE said the AFT line is 'another false narrative' against officers facing a 1,300% increase in assaults and an 8,000% increase in death threats. Critics also flagged the union's pension-fund leverage for a federal look.
Commentary
A teacher still packing glue sticks in a vinyl bag does not need a union map to a different big-box. She needs the classroom door locked and the officer who answers a tip still alive.
That is the gap. Seven. Months. A union president wants Target to denounce the badge. ICE printed 1,300 and 8,000. The store sells notebooks. The union sells a boycott because the notebooks would not join a sermon.
Look every parent buying crayons in the eye: if a teachers' union can punish a retailer for not attacking ICE, who is the lesson for?
Comments
A glue stick is not a detainer. Leave the badge out of the school-supply aisle.
I paid union dues once. I did not pay them to hunt Target because ICE did the job.
ICE enforces statute. A store's silence is compliance, not a crime. The boycott is the politics.
Allied classrooms do not boycott grocers for failing to condemn the immigration service.
Watch the pension votes. Grant shops love a map of 'ethical' aisles. Kids need pencils.
I restock a night bay. 8,000% more death threats is the story. Not a red-card campaign.
Seven months of a talking point. My kid still needs a backpack. ICE still needs backup.
A 1,300% assault spike is a tactic. A boycott that sides with the spike is a tell.
Fox printed Weingarten, Fiddelke, Minnesota HQ, 1,300%, and 8,000%. Argue those nouns.
Shop if you want. Back ICE. Keep the union out of the detention calendar.
