The CEOs of Minnesota’s most prominent businesses are calling for local, state, and federal officials to find a solution as tensions skyrocket the day after federal agents shot and killed a second person in Minneapolis.
A Border Patrol agent killed Alex Pretti, 37, a US citizen who worked as a nurse at the local Veterans Affairs hospital, on Saturday morning. Pretti had been filming federal immigration agents when the confrontation began.
Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul have been the site of continuous protests since the Department of Homeland Security flooded the cities with immigration agents in December. Tensions have been especially high since an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good on January 7.
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce distributed a letter on Sunday signed by more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies calling for “de-escalation.”
Among the signatories were the leaders of major corporations: Target CEO Michael Fiddelke, 3M CEO William Brown, Allianz Life Insurance Company CEO Jasmine Jirele, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening, and UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley, among many others.
The letter called for an “immediate de-escalation of tensions” and for state, local, and federal officials to “work together to find real solutions.”
“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,” the letter says.
President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have long been the subject of sharp debate among business and tech leaders, many of whom have sought to curry favor during the president’s second term.
Some tech leaders, in fact, were at the White House on Saturday night to attend a screening of the new documentary about Melania Trump, which was produced by Melania Trump. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy were both expected to attend, according to multiple reports.
Meanwhile, some employees at those companies and others are calling on their bosses to speak out against ICE actions across the country.
A petition with over 250 signatures, titled “Tech demands ICE out of our cities,” a group of employees is calling on tech leaders to “pick up the phone” and call the White House to demand ICE “leave our cities.” They are also demanding that their companies cancel any contracts they have with ICE. The bulk of the signatories said in the petition that they worked for Amazon and Google.
After the latest fatal shooting in Minneapolis, some business and tech leaders themselves took to social media to say their piece.
Billionaire hedge fund owner Bill Ackman called for calm while blaming Minnesota state officials for provoking the violence.
James Dyett, an exec at OpenAI, criticized the tech community for not speaking up. “There is far more outrage from tech leaders over a wealth tax than masked ICE agents terrorizing communities and executing civilians in the streets,” Dyer wrote on X. “Tells you what you need to know about the values of our industry.”
