Mischief Toy Store Owners Claim ICE Agents Retaliated Against Them After Anti-ICE Interview
At 1 p.m. Friday, ABC News aired an interview with Abigail Adelsheim-Marshall, who owns St. Paul’s Mischief Toy Store with her parents Dan Marshall and Millie Adelsheim. She discussed the store’s decision to distribute free whistles that citizens have been using to alert neighbors of the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The store’s stance against ICE has been well-documented, with owners being outspoken in their opposition to both the agency and President Trump.
Notice of Inspection and Alleged Harassment
“She delivered a very strident anti-ICE message, which we’re incredibly proud of,” said Dan Marshall. “Three hours later, two plainclothes ICE agents came into our store and served us with a Notice of Inspection.” The agents were asking for I-9 documents — which prove people are legal to work in this country — from the store’s employees. Marshall said the store has been audited for various things in the past, but this was different. For starters, the notice listed the store by its name, rather than its legal name Mischief LLC, which has been used in every other government document the store has received.
Marshall also noted that he was alerted to previous audits by mail, not by in-person agents. “In 27 years of being retailers in St. Paul, we’ve never been audited for this,” he said. “We have five part-time employees and three owners. So tell me why they want to waste time on five part-time employees. But here we are.” Representatives for DHS and ICE did not respond to a request for comment, leaving many to speculate about the motivations behind the sudden inspection.
Community Response and Support
The owners of Mischief Toy Store have been vocal about their opposition to ICE and President Trump, even joining a lawsuit with a handful of other retailers and manufacturers against the U.S. government in an effort to roll back international tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. After the ICE agents arrived, the store’s lawyer, who specializes in small business legal issues, told Marshall that numerous immigrant-owned businesses have also been hit with this audit.
Marshall’s daughter Ada Adelsheim was working when the ICE agents arrived. They flashed IDs, but Adelsheim didn’t take a photo of them. The agents left behind paperwork for the store to complete. The store’s lawyer advised Marshall to mail the documentation requested along with a letter from their lawyer, hoping that would be enough to satisfy the agents. Marshall said, “I hope they don’t go out of their way to find trivial errors in the forms. We’re pretty sure this was used as harassment.”
The store posted a photo of the letter on social media, where it quickly took off. Marshall said the ACLU reached out along with numerous elected officials. Business-wise, Marshall said, the traffic at Mischief felt like the weekend before Christmas. In the first three hours after opening on Saturday, they sold 250 anti-ICE yard signs. Marshall said the store is paying it forward and will donate $5,000 to local nonprofits.
Defiance and Support in the Face of Alleged Harassment
“I’m feeling super anxious about our community and what’s happening,” Marshall said. “It’s traumatizing to see my neighbors being terrorized. It’s one of the worst things I’ve seen in my life. But I’m also feeling defiant. This is an attempt to silence us and it’s going to do the opposite.” The community has rallied around the store, showing support for their stance against ICE and the alleged harassment they faced.
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