Boycott Urges Companies to Sever Ties with ICE
A new campaign initiated by the advocacy group Beyond the Ballot aims to hold major corporations accountable for their ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This movement, titled “Not With My Dollars: ICE Out of My Wallet,” comes as the U.S. continues to face immigration-related tensions under former President Trump’s administration.
Boycott Targeting Major Corporations
The boycott is directed at several high-profile companies. These include:
- Amazon and Whole Foods
- Dell
- Microsoft
- Home Depot
- Spotify
- Target
Victor Rivera, executive director of Beyond the Ballot, expressed that financial contributions to such corporations fund actions that harm communities. He stated, “Every dollar spent at a complicit corporation is a dollar funding the abduction and disappearance of our neighbors.”
Specific Concerns About Targeted Companies
The campaign emphasizes various reasons for targeting each corporation, including:
- Amazon: The company’s cloud services support ICE operations, enabling the tracking and separation of families.
- Target: Previously collaborated with policies viewed as oppressive; campaigners demand a halt to such cooperation and a return to diversity initiatives.
- Spotify: Criticized for airing ICE recruitment ads, prompting calls for boycott from multiple advocacy groups.
- Home Depot: Allegations include allowing ICE to detain individuals in their stores and parking lots without proper warrants.
- Dell and Microsoft: Both companies maintain significant financial contracts with ICE, facilitating the agency’s operations.
Actions and Demands
The campaign urges consumers to stop shopping with these corporations. Recommended actions include:
- Cancelling Prime subscriptions from Amazon.
- Purchasing from alternatives like local bookstores and cooperatives.
- Advocating for organizations to stop using Amazon Web Services.
To be removed from the boycott list, corporations must address specific demands set forth by Beyond the Ballot. These include ending contracts related to immigration enforcement and adopting human rights policies that prevent support for ICE activities.
A Long-Term Strategy
Beyond the Ballot emphasizes that this boycott transcends the typical consumer protest. The organization aims for sustained pressure on these companies, insisting that accountability should go beyond mere public relations efforts.
The advocacy group stresses that corporations aligning with ICE are not neutral but complicit in the challenges faced by working-class and migrant families in the U.S. The campaign seeks to make corporate complicity in immigration enforcement unprofitable for good.
