Whether they own or lease store property, retailers probably need formal policies about whether law enforcement agencies can establish operational staging areas in their parking lots.

Target was thrust into the national spotlight last week after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot a man in the Bronx, not far from one of its stores. The retailer stated it has no formal ties to the agency after New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused it of letting ICE set up operations in its parking lot.

The situation highlights a predicament for retailers, whether they are property owners or tenants, at a time of elevated immigration enforcement.

In a Thursday statement condemning the shooting, Ocasio-Cortez added a demand that Target “stop offering their Bronx properties as private staging sites for ICE, in compliance with requests from New York officials.”

“Target opening up large, active retail parking lots for paramilitary activity is unacceptable and places the entire community at risk,” she also said.

But in an email to Retail Dive on Friday, the retailer denied this, stating, “Target has no cooperative agreements with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agency."

A Target spokesperson said she was unaware of any operational staging area set up by ICE at its Marble Hill shopping center location, which is close to the site of the shooting. On Friday afternoon, nobody answered the phone at that location.

A group of Bronx elected officials on Oct.

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