By A. Austin

Since the Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon’s October 2025 article about community readiness in the face of potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, much has changed regarding ICE sentiment globally and on on San Francisco’s west side.

More than 3,000 agents were sent to Minnesota in December of 2025 as a part of “operation metro surge,” a large-scale effort by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to crack down on immigration in the state. The DHS website claims that their objective was to arrest “dangerous criminal illegal aliens,” but have been accused of overstepping their legal bounds and racially profiling civilians, as alleged by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Minneapolis residents and American citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good were killed by federal immigration agents in January. These deaths sparked nationwide action – including protests, a national general strike and economic blackout.

On Friday, Jan. 30, thousands gathered at Dolores Park in San Francisco and marched to Civic Center Plaza in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis and communities targeted by ICE. On the west side, a number of San Francisco businesses participated in the strike.

Park Life, a creative outpost with a store and gallery; TANTRUM, a toy store and gift shop; Andytown Coffee Roasters, an artisanal bakery and coffee chain; Fleetwood SF, a gallery and boutique that specializes in screen printing; Space Craft Earth, a cafe and clothing store; Earthfire Arts Studio, a drop-in art studio and Sunset Mercantile Emporium, an eclectic shop for modern and vintage merchants, all participated someway in the day of action.

Green Apple Books did not close, but Kar Johnson, event manager for the local bookstore chain, said the business chose to participate in the movement in another way.

“I and the managers wanted to figure out an appropriate response to the then ongoing siege of the Twin Cities,” Johnson said. “We were trying to think of a way to respond to the call of an economic blackout, while (we also have) stores we have to keep open. We’re a small business, and it would’ve been really difficult for us to close our doors entirely. We chose (to donate to) the Immigrant Law Center which serves low-income people in Minnesota. They were recommended by a bookstore in Minneapolis called Moon Palace Books.”

The day before the strike, Johnson announced on Instagram that all Green Apple locations would stay open “to serve as a place of engagement with booksellers and fellow neighbors about our cultural moment and ICE violence in Minnesota and beyond.”

They had initially pledged to donate all profits from the 30th, but they “decided that the more financially beneficial donation for the (Law Center) would be 20% of (their) sales,” according to Johnson.

The store’s involvement in anti-ICE activism continues, especially at their Ninth Avenue location. There, they print and stock free zines about immigration rights and how to report ICE presence. One community member (@oh.ily.co on Instagram) approached the store and offered them free “anti-ICE whistles,” which can be used to notify neighbors of ICE presence.

The bookstore stocks relevant literature displayed under a “F–k ICE !!!” sign.

Johnson recommends reading diversely, but gave this short list of their favorite immigration-related readings: “Solito,” a memoir by Javier Zamora; “Cold Thief Place,” a poetry collection by Esther Lin; “A Map of Future Ruins” and “The Far Away Brothers,” non-fiction books by Lauren Markham.

Anthony Strong, chef and owner of Pasta Supply Co., (with locations on Clement and 22nd street) decided to close his restaurants for the strike.

“I was honored to be in the place to make a decision like that,” said Strong, who moved to San Francisco from Minneapolis 20 years ago.

“I still have a lot of friends and family back (in Minneapolis), and I am very close to the area,” Strong said. “When I heard about that general strike on that Friday, it wasn’t even a decision that I had to come to. It was more of a matter of how.”

Strong said that the decision to close was not an easy one, but he said he felt it was the obvious choice.

“Restaurants and small businesses (have) notoriously thin margins, difficult to give up a Friday of sales. But we just decided we were going to make it work,” Strong said. “I do believe that people vote with their dollars.”

Immigration is especially relevant in the restaurant industry, where many workers are immigrants, undocumented or otherwise. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, 21% of California restaurant cooks “lack paperwork.”

Strong recognized this, saying, “I’ve been a cook my whole life, since I was growing up in Minnesota and started skipping high school to go work at my cooking job. I’ve mostly worked with immigrants throughout my career, and one of the privileges of being able to own, and operate, and struggle, to be able to have a place of my own, is to use my voice and my platform – to be able to use that to support the people who are important to the community.”

Another business which has received attention for its activism is Devil’s Teeth Bakery with westside locations on Balboa and Noriega streets. Although it was financially unable to close for the strike, it still participated. Starting in January, iced anti-ICE cookies were available for $3.50 each, and the proceeds went directly to the Community Action Network Minnesota.

“(The Community Action Network Minnesota) specifically works with lower class/income families, people of color and just families in need.” said Millie Marcelin, the general manager of Devil’s Teeth Baking Company. “We really wanted to make sure that we could get funds to people that would actually make a difference,”

The cookies sold out early on the day of the strike and were a major success in the following weeks.

“We donated $10,000 in total, which was really nice that the community came together to help us out, buy our cookies. We just find it really important to speak for what we believe in, to protect our workers, to protect other people in general, even if we’re not affected. It’s just really important for us to be clear about what we stand for.”

But that clarity has led to backlash. Marcelin explained that they “did get review bombed at all three of our locations.” Each of their locations’ Yelp lists reviews that are “not recommended,” or were taken down for violating their terms of service, which were posted in the days immediately following their anti-ICE stance.

They said that the majority of their patrons remain supportive. To give bakers a break, Devil’s Teeth now offers stickers designed after the cookies. Proceeds continue to go to the Community Action Network Minnesota.

Since October 2025, the west side has grown much more involved in immigration activism. Aside from displays of solidarity, business owners appear to be more informed and knowledgeable about their rights.

Marcelin of Devil’s Teeth said, “We also recognize that this kind of puts a target on our back, and therefore inadvertently (puts) a target on our employees’ backs. We just wanted to make sure that everyone felt safe and that we would be there to get lawyers if they need, handle any communications if they need or anything like that. We wanted to make sure that everyone feels that we will have their back no matter what.”