City officials urged New Yorkers on Tuesday to boycott Target following reports that ICE agents have been using its Marble Hill store’s parking lot as a staging area, including before an action last week that ended with an ICE officer shooting a man in the neck.
The man, Oscar Belgal, 28, had his 5-year-old son in the back seat when at least one officer fired seven rounds into Belgal’s car, according to the NYPD. A senior ICE official defended the shooting, saying Belgal was attempting to weaponize his vehicle.
Elected officials, clergy members and immigrant advocates gathered outside the store to demand that Target publicly condemn ICE’s use of the lot and bar agents from it. Local officials said residents have reported agents staging there for months. The rally was organized by Until Freedom, whose co-founder Tamika Mallory has pushed a Target boycott since the company rolled back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in January 2025.
Target did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A company spokesperson previously said the retail chain has no agreement in place with any federal immigration office.
The Marble Hill parking lot sits behind a building shared by several big chains including Marshalls and Foot Locker. Gothamist has not independently verified that ICE has used the lot, which is owned by Kingsbridge Associates, an affiliate of Washington Square Partners. Members of the company’s property management team told Gothamist last week it had no formal agreement with ICE.
“Target has been silent,” Councilmember Pierina Sanchez said. “If you can take our money, you should be able to stand up and protect us, and until you do, boycott Target.”
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also told New Yorkers not to shop at Target, and city Comptroller Mark Levine, who oversees the city’s pension funds, said he had written to Target’s board, demanding an independent review “to look at the human rights risk, the legal risk, and the business risk of your failure to manage this situation better.”
Target did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Company spokesperson Lauren Frank previously told Gothamist that Target has “no agreement in place with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agencies.”
This is not the first time Target has been caught up in the national fight over immigration enforcement. In August, the American Federation of Teachers called for a back-to-school boycott over the company’s response to a federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota’s Twin Cities.
In January 2025, shortly after President Donald Trump took office for a second term, the company said it would scrap its three-year diversity goals and stop participating in outside demographic surveys.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.