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From family-run cafes to retail giants, businesses are increasingly coming into the crosshairs of President Donald Trumps mass deportation campaign, whether it’s public pressure for them to speak out against aggressive immigration enforcement or becoming the sites for such arrests themselves. In Minneapolis, where the Department of Homeland Security says its carrying out its largest operation ever, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses have temporarily closed their doors or stopped accepting reservations amid widespread protests. On Sunday, after the U.S. Border Patrol shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies, including Target, Best Buy, and UnitedHealth, signed an open letter calling for “an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions. Still, that letter didnt name immigration enforcement directly, or point to recent arrests at businesses. Earlier this month, widely-circulated videos showed federal agents detaining two Target employees in Minnesota. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has rounded up day laborers in Home Depot parking lots and delivery workers on the street nationwide. And last year, federal agents detained 475 people during a raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia. Here’s what we know about immigration enforcement in businesses. What ICE is allowed to do Anyone including ICE can enter public areas of a business as they wish. This can include restaurant dining sections, open parking lots, office lobbies and shopping aisles. The general public can go into a store for purposes of shopping, right? And so can law enforcement agents without a warrant, said Jessie Hahn, senior counsel for labor and employment policy at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy nonprofit. As a result, immigration officials may try to question people, seize information and even make arrests in public-facing parts of a business. But to enter areas with a reasonable expectation of privacy like a back office or a closed-off kitchen ICE is supposed to have a judicial warrant, which must be signed by a judge from a specified court, and can be limited to certain days or parts of the business. Judicial warrants should not be confused with administrative warrants, which are signed by immigration officers. But in an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press, ICE leadership stated administrative warrants were sufficient for federal officers to forcibly enter people’s homes if theres a final order of removal. Hahn and other immigration rights lawyers say this upends years of precedent for federal agents authority in private spaces and violates bedrock principles of the U.S. Constitution. Still, the easiest way for ICE to enter private spaces in businesses without a warrant is through consent from an employer, which could be as simple as letting an agent into certain parts of the property. The agency may also cite other exigent circumstances, Hahn notes, such as if theyre in hot pursuit of a certain individual. Other actions ICE can take against employers Beyond more sweeping workplace raids, enforcement against employers can also take the form of I-9 audits, which focus on verifying employees’ authorization to work in the U.S. Since the start of Trumps second term, attorneys have pointed to an uptick in instances of ICE physically showing up at a place of business to initiate an I-9 audit. ICE has the authority to do this but it marks a shift from prior enforcement, when audits more often began through writing like mailed notices. David Jones, a regional managing partner at labor and employment law firm Fisher Phillips in Memphis, said he’s also seen immigration agents approach these audits with the same approach as recent raids. ICE is still showing up in their full tactical gear without identifying themselves necessarily, just to do things like serve a notice of inspection, Jones said. Employers have three days to respond to an I-9 audit, but agents behaving aggressively might make some businesses think they need to act more immediately. The rights of businesses If ICE shows up without a warrant, businesses can ask agents to leave or potentially refuse service based on their own company policy, perhaps citing safety concerns or other disruptions caused by agents’ presence. But there’s no guarantee immigration officials will comply, especially in public spaces. Thats not what were seeing here in Minnesota. What were seeing is they still conduct the activity, said John Medeiros, who leads corporate immigration practice at Minneapolis-based law firm Nilan Johnson Lewis. Because of this, Medeiros said, the question for many businesses becomes less about getting ICE to leave their property and more about what to do if ICE violates consent and other legal requirements. In Minneapolis and other cities that have seen immigration enforcement surges, including Chicago and Los Angeles some businesses have put up signs to label private spaces and set wider protocols for what to do when ICE arrives. Vanessa Matsis-McCready, associate general counsel and vice president of HR at Engage PEO, says she’s also seen a nationwide uptick in interest for I-9 self-audits across sectors and additional emergency preparation. How the public is responding ICE’s increased presence and forceful arrests at businesses has sparked public outcry, some of it directed at the companies themselves for not taking a strong enough stand. Some employers, particularly smaller business owners, are speaking out about ICE’s impacts on their workers and customers. But a handful of bigger corporations have stayed largely silent, at least publicly, about enforcement making itsway to their storefronts. Minneapolis-based Target has not commented on videos of federal agents detaining two of its employees earlier this month although its incoming chief executive, Michael Fiddelke, sent a video message to the company’s over 400,000 workers Monday calling recent violence incredibly painful, without directly mentioning immigration enforcement. He said Target was doing everything we can to manage whats in our control. Fiddelke also signed the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s letter calling for broader de-escalation, which got support from the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group of CEOs from more than 200 companies. Target is among companies that organizers with ICE Out of Minnesota have asked to take stronger public stances over ICE’s presence in the state. Others include Home Depot, whose parking lots have become a known site of ICE raids over the last year, and Hilton, which protestors said was among brands of Twin City-area hotels that have housed federal agents. Hilton and Home Depot didn’t respond to comment requests over the activists’ calls. Home Depot previously denied being involved in immigration operations. Several worker groups have been more outspoken. Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for a chapter of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, said members were shocked by a widening pattern of unlawful ICE behavior and recognize that anti-immigrant policies hurt tourism, business, and their families. United Auto Workers also expressed solidarity with Minneapolis residents “fighting back against the federal governments abuses and attacks on the working class. Hahn of the National Immigration Law Center noted some businesses are communicating through industry associations to avoid direct exposure to possible retaliation. Still, she stressed the importance of speaking publicly about the impacts of immigration enforcement overall. We know that the raids are contributing to things like labor shortages and reduced foot traffic, Hahn said, adding that fears to push back on this abuse of power from Trump could ultimately land us in a very different looking economy. By Wyatte Grantham-Philips, AP business writer Associated Press Writers Rio Yamat and Anne D’Innocenzio contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
Every month, around two billion people see AI Overviews, Googles AI-powered search feature that generates summaries to users queries. Now, a new study is revealing a concerning pattern among some of these responses: When asked health-related questions, AI Overviews appears to turn to YouTube significantly more often than trusted medical sites. Since its inception, AI Overviews has faced its fair share of controversies, from early reports of the product spewing nonsensical answers to a series of lawsuits from businesses and publisher groups alleging that the feature is damaging to organic traffic patterns. The most recent concern with AI Overviews emerged via an investigation from The Guardian on January 2, which alleged that the tool has a tendency to provide users with false, misleading, and potentially dangerous health guidance. At the time, Google refuted those claims. Now, a new study from the AI SEO tool SE Ranking, published on January 14, has revealed that AI Overviews is two to three times more likely to cite YouTube videos than “trusted medical sites” in response to health queriesbut Google says that’s not the full picture. “From the AIs point of view, all of this content exists in the same pool. To understand how AI Overviews collects its health guidance on the web, researchers at SE Ranking analyzed more than 50,000 health-related Google searches from German users. That location was chosen, per the studys authors, for its strictly regulated healthcare system. If AI systems rely heavily on non-medical or non-authoritative sources even in such an environment, the authors wrote in a published report, it suggests the issue may extend beyond any single country. SE Ranking found that, of all the AI Overview results, only about 34% came from “trusted medical sources” (which it defines as sites like medical institutions, academic journals, government institutions, and more), while the other 66% originated from “general or non-expert sources” (like commercial sites or blogs). In fact, YouTube was the leading source for all health-related inquiries; accounting for 4.43% of all AI Overviews citations. According to the report, thats 3.5 times more citations than netdoktor.de, one of Germanys largest consumer health portals, and more than twice the citations of MSD Manuals, a well-established medical reference. In total, 20,621 out of 465,823 AI Overviews results cited YouTube. This matters because YouTube is not a medical publisher, the report reads. It is a general-purpose video platform. Anyone can upload content there (e.g., board-certified physicians, hospital channels, but also wellness influencers, life coaches, and creators with no medical training at all). From the AIs point of view, all of this content exists in the same pool. In a statement to Fast Company, Google refuted SE Ranking’s findings. The company said the study’s definition of a trustworthy source is “flawed and overly simplistic,” adding that, “it classifies nearly two-thirds of sources as ‘less reliable’ by lumping together everything from commercial sites to multi-topic blogs. This ignores the reality that an expert-written article on a “multi-topic blog” can be a high-quality source.” Google noted that a close look at the report’s top 10 most-cited domainswhich, alongside YouTube, include the German Heart Foundation and the country’s second-largest health insurerreveals that they are “virtually all respected, authoritative sources for information, which directly contradicts the report’s central narrative.” Further, it added, the claim that AI Overviews turns to YouTube two to three times more than trusted medical sites “ignores the fact that a wide variety of credible health authorities and licensed medical professionals create content on YouTube.” Google pointed to the fact that, per the study’s own findings, 24 of the 25 most-cited YouTube videos came from medical-related channels like hospitals, clinics, and health organizations. (Though, SE Ranking’s researchers note in the report, those 25 videos are “just a tiny slice” of all YouTube videos that AI Overviews actually links). In all, a spokesperson said, “The implication that AI Overviews provide unreliable information is refuted by the report’s own data, which shows that the most-cited domains in AI Overviews are reputable websites. And from what we’ve seen in the published findings, AI Overviews cite expert YouTube content from hospitals and clinics.”
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E-Commerce
CEOs of Minnesotas biggest companies signed a public letter calling for immediate de-escalation of tensions after weeks of silence following Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) descending upon the state, which has led to civilian deaths, abductions, economic stand-stills and a profound disruption of daily life. On Sunday, chief executives of more than 60 major corporations like Target, Best Buy, 3M and General Mills, called for “immediate de-escalation of tensions” in Minnesota. The letter came following federal agents shooting and killing Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA ICU nurse while he was on the ground. Weeks earlier, Renee Good, was also shot and killed by ICE agents while in her vehicle. The letter marks a shift for major companies headquartered in Minnesota, many of which put out public statements in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, but were quiet on the chaos swirling around ICEs presence in their state. (Earlier this month, Fast Companys Joe Berkowitz received no reply from any major Minnesota company when asked to comment about ICE.) The letter reads, in part: 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.” But experts think the call for peace fell short of criticizing the illegal actions that have been increasingly taken by federal immigration agents in recent weeks. Weak leadership just makes workers more anxious While the organization has been operating largely without warrants, and have been caught on video violently detaining people (even U.S. citizens), the letter stayed away from any criticism of either the Trump administration’s direction or ICE agents themselves. Thats been common during President Trumps second term: many organizations havent pushed back on the administrations rollbacks on DEI efforts, for example. Instead, the letter stuck to neutral language, such as “the recent challenges facing our state” to describe the situation. The letter has received criticism: On social media, some commenters call it a pseudo-statement, spineless and mealy-mouthed. Sonia Daniels, a consultant and organizational systems expert who studies how people, power, and institutional behavior intersect, tells Fast Company that the letters clear display of neutrality was intentionaland also, she believes, the wrong call. “Leaders often reach for language about calm and deescalation when they are actually trying to manage risks, not reality, she says, and adds that while this instinct feels responsible, it isn’t. She explains how failing to accurately speak about a situation of such magnitude has the potential to even cause more damage. “When leaders refuse to name the source of harm, they shift the burden to the employees,” Daniels says. “When that happens, workers are left to absorb fear, confusion, and moral tension while leadership stays abstract and polite, which erodes trust fast.” Actions speak louder than words Instead of staying neutral to avoid any potential blowback, Daniels says CEOs should tell the truth about where they stand, as well as offer resources to their workforce who will undoubtedly be affected by ICE’s ongoing raidsand are, in many cases, afraid to go to work. “Statements alone do not stabilize people, Daniels explains. Unless action follows. While the open letter stated that companies’ efforts have included “close communication with the Governor, the White House, the Vice President and local mayors”, many agree that doesn’t feel like enough. Cameron Kolb, a CEO adviser, tells Fast Company that fairly neutral-sounding open letters like this one “are disconnected from the employees and community, especially residents, from the current realities.” Kolb says that leaders in Minnesota should be openly talking about the impact ICE operations have had on the community, as well as providing support for de-escalation efforts”including backing community investigations.”“True leadership, especially in times of crisis, involves more than preaching for unity. It involves an alignment of the public position with demonstrated support for the most affected, Kolb says. Community leadership Meanwhile, as top business leaders stay relatively neutral-sounding, the citizen leaders of Minnesota are taking action. On Friday, community leaders, along with citizens, faith leaders, and labor unions organized a day of action where over 75,000 took to the streets to stand against ICE and hundreds of thousands participated in an economic blackout. ICE continues to make everyone less safe, and Minnesotas Labor Movement repeats and amplifies our call for them to leave our state immediately, said Bernie Burnham, Minnesota AFL-CIO President, in a statement following the killing of Alex Pretti. Minnesotas Labor Movement will continue to actively support and stand in solidarity with every worker who has been unlawfully detained. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow Minnesotans in the face of a hostile federal government.
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E-Commerce
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