At the beginning of December 2026: ICE announced an enforcement surge in the Twin Cities.

January 6, 2026: DHS announced what it called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, sending 2,000 agents to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. 

January 7, 2026: ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shoots Renée Nicole Good

January 8–14, 2026: Protests, vigils, and marches continue in Minneapolis against ICE and Operation Metro Surge

January 13, 2026: ‘Madness’: two US citizens violently detained by ICE in Minnesota, officials say. Two Target employees forced to the ground, then into SUV, then dumped in different parking lot

January 14, 2026: A different ICE agent shoots and injures a man in north Minneapolis; the man survives after being shot in the leg. This second shooting further intensifies public anger and calls for an end to the federal surge

January 17, 2026: National Anger Spills Into Target Stores, Again

January 22, 2026: Target Store Staff Are Skipping Work Over ICE's Crackdown in Minnesota

January 23, 2026: A statewide Day of Truth & Freedom / Minnesota general strike is held, described as the first U.S. general strike in about 80 years, explicitly targeting ICE operations and Operation Metro Surge. On that day, many workers, businesses, schools, and institutions in Minneapolis and across Minnesota participate in work stoppages, marches, and large rallies against federal immigration enforcement.

January 24, 2026: Federal Border Patrol agents assigned to the metro surge shoot and kill Alex Jeffrey Pretti

January 25, 2026: The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce released this letter on behalf of more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies today.

Eight people have died in dealings with ICE so far in 2026. Keith Porter, Parady La, Heber Sanchaz Domínguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, and Geraldo Lunas Campos. The high-profile fatal shootings follow the deaths of at least 32 people in ICE custody in 2025 – the highest number since 2004.

Minnesota CEOs Seek De-Escalation After Border Police Shooting

“The business community in Minnesota prides itself in providing leadership and solving problems to ensure a strong and vibrant state. The recent challenges facing our state have created widespread disruption and tragic loss of life. For the past several weeks, representatives of Minnesota’s business community have been working every day behind the scenes with federal, state and local officials to advance real solutions. These efforts have included close communication with the Governor, the White House, the Vice President and local mayors. There are ways for us to come together to foster progress.  

With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions.  

We have been working for generations to build a strong and vibrant state here in Minnesota and will do so in the months and years ahead with equal and even greater commitment. In this difficult moment for our community, we call for peace and focused cooperation among local, state and federal leaders to achieve a swift and durable solution that enables families, businesses, our employees, and communities across Minnesota to resume our work to build a bright and prosperous future. “

3M – William Brown, Chairman and CEO

Ameriprise Financial – James Cracchiolo, Chairman and CEO

APi Group – Russell Becker, CEO

Best Buy – Corie Barry, CEO 

C.H. Robinson – Dave Bozeman, President and CEO

Deluxe Corporation – Barry McCarthy, President and CEO

Donaldson Company, Inc. – Tod Carpenter, Chairman and CEO

Ecolab – Christophe Beck, Chairman and CEO

General Mills – Jeff Harmening, Chairman and CEO

H.B. Fuller – On behalf of our entire organization [CEO Celeste Mastin]

Hormel – Jeff Ettinger, Interim CEO

Medtronic – Geoff Martha, CEO and Chairman

nVent – Beth Wozniak, Chair and CEO  

Patterson Companies – Robert Rajalingam, CEO

Pentair – John L. Stauch, President and CEO

Piper Sandler – Chad Abraham, Chairman and CEO

Sleep Number – Linda Findley, CEO (4/2025)

Solventum – Bryan Hanson, CEO

SPS Commerce – Chad Collins, CEO 

SunOpta – Brian Kocher, CEO

Target – Michael Fiddelke, Incoming CEO 

Tennant Company – Dave Huml, CEO

The Toro Company – Rick Olson, Chairman and CEO

U.S. Bancorp – Gunjan Kedia, CEO

Winnebago Industries – Michael Happe, CEO

Xcel Energy – Bob Frenzel, Chairman and CEO 

Keith Rabois, Managing director of Khosla Ventures: “no law enforcement has shot an innocent person.  illegals are committing violent crimes everyday.”

Khosla Ventures: “We prefer brutal honesty to hypocritical politeness.”

“Technology and innovation have reshaped our world and disrupted the way we all live and work. The future may not be knowable, but it is inventable—and it belongs to those who dare to imagine what’s possible.”

Managing Directors: 5 dudes (3 stanford; 3 harvard)

Founder Vinod Khosla: “I agree with @EthanChoi7. Macho ICE vigilantes running amuck empowered by a conscious-less administration. The video was sickening to watch and the storytelling without facts or with invented fictitious facts by authorities almost unimaginable in a civilized society. ICE personnel must have ice water running thru their veins to treat other human beings this way. There is politics but humanity should transcend that”

Target’s incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke in a video message sent to employees (January 26, 2026): “Right now, as someone who is raising a family here in the Twin Cities and as a leader of this hometown company I want to acknowledge where we are. The violence and loss of life in our community is incredibly painful. I know it’s weighing heavily on many of you across the country, as it is with me. What’s happening affects us not just as a company but as people, as neighbors, friends and family members.”

A company spokesman declined to comment. Still nothing official on website.

Lloyd Vogel, CEO Garage Grown Gear: said he felt compelled to condemn the shootings in a LinkedIn post because he lives and works in the Twin Cities. "My primary rationale was to show solidarity with my community," he told Business Insider. "It's also just bad for business when people are afraid to leave their homes."

"There's so much fear in Minnesota right now," he said. "It would just be cowardice to not have a perspective on this."

JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chair Jamie Dimon 1/22/26 Davos): ″I don’t like what I’m seeing, five grown men beating up a little old lady. So I think we should calm down a little bit on the internal anger about immigration… We need these people. They work in our hospitals and hotels and restaurants and agriculture, and they’re good people.… They should be treated that way.”

On Saturday evening (1/24/2026), top technology executives gathered in Washington to attend a screening of “Melania,” a documentary produced by Amazon about the first lady, Melania Trump. Black-tie event: guests were handed monogrammed buckets of popcorn, framed screening tickets for their trophy shelves, and a limited-edition copy of Trump’s 2024 book of the same title as her documentary, “Melania.“

Among them was Andy Jassy, the chief executive of Amazon; Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple; and Lisa Su, the chief executive of chip maker AMD.

Also: Eric Yuan – CEO, Zoom; Lynn Martin – President, New York Stock Exchange; General Electric CEO Larry Culp

Apple CEO Tim Cook says it's 'time for de-escalation' in Minneapolis

Cook came under fire for appearing at The White House just hours after federal immigration authorities killed Alex Pretti, a veterans' nurse, in Minnesota

“This is a time for de-escalation,” Cook wrote to Apple staff. “I believe America is strongest when we live up to our highest ideals, when we treat everyone with dignity and respect no matter who they are or where they’re from, and when we embrace our shared humanity.”

Cook said he “had a good conversation with the president this week where I shared my views, and I appreciate his openness to engaging on issues that matter to us all." 

Apple’s Cook says he’s ‘heartbroken’ by Minneapolis events and has spoken with Trump

Open AI CEO Sam Altman (1/27/26): I love the US and its values of democracy and freedom and will be supportive of the country however I can; OpenAI will too. But part of loving the country is the American duty to push back against overreach. What’s happening with ICE is going too far. There is a big difference between deporting violent criminals and what’s happening now, and we need to get the distinction right. President Trump is a very strong leader, and I hope he will rise to this moment and unite the country. I am encouraged by the last few hours of response and hope to see trust rebuilt with transparent investigations. As a company, we aim to stick to our convictions and not get blown around by changing fashions too much. We didn’t become super woke when that was popular, we didn’t start talking about masculine corporate energy when that was popular, and we are not going to make a lot of performative statements now about safety or politics or anything else. But we are going to continue to try to figure out how to actually do the right thing as best as we can, engage with leaders and push for our values, and speak up clearly about it as needed.

James Dyett, Global Business at OpenAI: “There is far more outrage from tech leaders over a wealth tax than masked ICE agents terrorizing communities and executing civilians in the streets. Tells you what you need to know about the values of our industry.”

Angel Investor Jason Calacanis: Once again, I will remind everyone that our leaders are failing us. True leadership would be to calm this situation down by telling these non-peaceful protestors to stay home while recalling these inadequately-trained agents.”

Jeff Dean, Chief Scientist, Google DeepMind & Google Research. Gemini Lead: “This is absolutely shameful.  Agents of a federal agency unnecessarily escalating, and then executing a defenseless citizen whose offense appears to be using his cell phone camera.  Every person regardless of political affiliation should be denouncing this.”

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management: "CEOs are feeling the community pressure." He said that reactions that convey sorrow and don't mention Trump or ICE are likely to be perceived as an unwelcome challenge to the White House's immigration agenda. "That is not what the Trump administration wanted," he said.

Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten asked to comment on the chaos in Minneapolis: replied with a statement endorsing the Minnesota Chamber's call for "cooperation between state, local, and federal authorities to immediately de-escalate the situation in Minneapolis."

Robert Pasin, CEO of toy company Radio Flyer: recently shared an email on LinkedIn that he sent to his employees that was critical of the shootings in Minneapolis: "I am deeply concerned about the current state of our democracy, and the continued actions we are seeing from President Trump and his administration that are intended to undermine democratic institutions, the rule of law, and the norms that hold our country together."

Dario Amodei, CEO Anthropic: called the events in Minnesota a “horror” on Monday. An Anthropic spokeswoman said the company did not have contracts with ICE.

ICEout.tech statement from January 24, 2026: "We condemn the Border Patrol’s killing of Alex Pretti and the violent surge of federal agents across our cities. The wanton brutality we’ve seen from ICE and CBP has removed any credibility that these actions are about immigration enforcement. Their goal is terror, cruelty, and suppression of dissent. This must end. Tech professionals are speaking up against this brutality, and we call on all our colleagues who share our values to use their voice. We know our industry leaders have leverage: in October, they persuaded Trump to call off a planned ICE surge in San Francisco, and big tech CEOs are in the White House tonight. Now they need to go further, and join us in demanding ICE out of all of our cities." 

811: 508 names; 19 one name with title, 284 role only

Reid Hoffman says business leaders are wrong to stay silent about the Trump administration

The LinkedIn cofounder and tech investor said in an episode of the "Rapid Response" podcast published Tuesday that he rejects the idea that executives can simply wait out political turbulence: "The theory that if you just keep your mouth shut, the storm will blow over and it won't be a problem — you should be disabused of that theory now," Hoffman said.

Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti: Leadership defended its work as in part improving “ICE’s operational effectiveness.”