The Pizza Yard was plastered with signs modifying its slogan to “We’re all friends here (except ICE).” The Midway eatery was one of a handful of Wasatch County businesses to participate in Friday’s nationwide economic boycott protesting ICE policies and tactics that resulted in the recen t fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. For Pizza Yard owner Matt Reschke, participating in the protest was a no-brainer. His best friends in the pizza industry, Natalie and Ben Taylor, live in Minneapolis and are equally exhausted, overwhelmed and inspired by the ICE demonstrations in the city. But how could Reschke participate in the boycott’s demands of no work, no school and no spending as a small-business owner?  Instead of closing up shop for the day, Reschke donated 100% of his proceeds on Friday to the Utah Immigrant Advocacy Coalition and the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for a total of $4,000. Another reason Reschke decided to stay open was to start a dialogue. Elizabeth Budge, a 20-year-old employee, wore a shirt reading “I Stand With Immigrants” that she’d purchased during a protest at the Utah State Capitol over a year ago. She said conversations she’d had with customers were largely positive, with some admitting that they voted for President Trump in the 2024 presidential election but agreed ICE had gone “too far” under his administration. “The political polarization that we’re seeing right now, I think, is in large part due to differences in information,” Budge said. “We have the algorithmic internet, … but something I’ve been seeing in my own family, in this community, is what’s happening in Minneapolis is hard to ignore, and so people who have been streamlined into these specific political avenues are coming together on this one issue. And that’s one of those things that’s making me feel hopeful.” The counter at The Pizza Yard on Friday featured a sign advertising that 100% of profits would go toward organizations that support immigrants. Credit: Cannon Taylor Personal tragedy drives Budge’s activism. Her uncle was an undocumented immigrant from Peru who met his wife in Southern California. He was later deported and died by suicide not long after. Budge said her uncle’s separation from his wife and child, on top of underlying mental health issues, contributed to his decision to end his life. “The whole system is not designed around human need. There’s very little compassion,” Budge said. Budge is a former member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said what she hopes to see in a largely religious state like Utah is people becoming more Christlike in their views toward immigrants, regardless of legal status. “I think that Christ would want us to love our neighbor,” Budge said. “And he wants us to love our neighbor even if our neighbor is someone that we’re being told is different than us, or maybe even less than us, depending on the people in power.” For her boss, Reschke, protesting ICE was not a religious matter but a moral one. “It’s really easy to just live by trying to do what’s right rather than trying to figure out what makes sense for the bottom line,” he said. “It’s easy to live in a way that your kids will be proud of you.” A block away, Folklore Bookshop customer Mary Schindler agreed with Reschke’s sentiment. She brought her kids with her to write elected representatives on postcards provided by the store, which also donated 20% of its proceeds, or over $2,200, to Red Balloon Bookshop — a small business in Minnesota hosting a book drive “to distribute books to kids who are currently staying home due to the actions of ICE.” Schindler’s 11-year-old daughter, Ans, wrote a postcard to U.S. Sen. John Curtis, former U.S. representative for Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Wasatch County, Park City and most of Summit County. Curtis voted on Thursday to support a six-bill spending package including funding for the Department of Homeland Security. On Friday, the package was passed with a two-week continuing resolution to deliberate Department of Homeland Security funding. Noah and Ans Schindler wrote postcards to Sen. John Curtis with their mother, Mary, at Folklore Bookshop on Friday. Credit: Cannon Taylor “You need to stand up and do something to get ICE out. I’m 11 and know everything that happens in the United States from the news,” Ans’ postcard read. “If you don’t try, this country will fall.” She had penciled a frowny face at the bottom. Some of what Ans knows about current events comes from watching the news and participating in protests with family members. Much comes from conversations with her mother.  “Your kids need to know the stresses that we’re feeling and also to know that we care about their future. The biggest thing is I don’t want my kids in 10 years to ask, ‘Why didn’t you do anything?’” Schindler said. Schindler said many of her conversations with her kids revolve around the rise of fascism in Germany leading up to World War II and why people didn’t speak up.  Folklore co-owner and author Lindsey Leavitt has been thinking about the same thing. Leavitt’s oma, or grandmother, grew up in Germany during World War II. Much of Leavitt’s writing has grappled with what she perceived to be political inaction by her oma. As an adult, Leavitt came to understand that her oma was but a child who, just after the war, dealt with the death of her mother and had to take care of her five siblings. Now that Leavitt believes she is seeing similarities in the United States to what she’s learned about the rise of fascism in Germany, she doesn’t want to stay silent. She hopes that writing elected representatives can make a difference. The bookstore delivered over 35 postcards to the post office over the course of the day. “There’s an art form to a letter, and there’s an art form to an email,” she said. “Even if they throw it away, you sitting down and writing something and digesting it and processing what you feel and think empowers you.” The post Wasatch County businesses join nationwide ICE protest appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less