The cosmetics chain LUSH, known for its bath bombs and “activist” branding, is making waves again, this time in Anchorage’s 5th Ave. Mall. A sign posted at its storefront declares: “ICE Free Zone. We believe in freedom of movement of all people across the world — no exceptions.”
No exceptions, as in criminal cartels coming and going as they please? No exceptions, as in terrorist cells? Human trafficking?
The bold statement leaves little to the imagination: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency tasked with enforcing immigration laws and combating human trafficking, drug smuggling, and other crimes, is explicitly unwelcome. What that means in practice is anyone’s guess, but it amounts to a retail chain pretending it can ban federal law enforcement from entering its space.
LUSH, a UK-based company that has long wrapped itself in left-wing politics, takes a similarly radical stance on its website. The company identifies its manufacturing plants as being on “unceded territories” of Indigenous peoples and insists that it operates in “allyship” with them to “repair past harm.” The company also uses its platform to promote a host of activist causes, including anti-Israel positions, that have nothing to do with soap or shampoo.
For many shoppers, the Anchorage store’s militant politics may come as an unpleasant surprise. Families headed to the mall to pick up gifts or skincare products are greeted not with a welcoming brand but with a sign that signals hostility toward law enforcement. The statement not only dismisses ICE, but by implication, dismisses the idea of national borders altogether.
What ICE agents must think of a cosmetics store purporting to bar them is another matter. Federal officers do not need a retailer’s permission to enforce the law. But the performative gesture signals a broader trend: companies like LUSH increasingly see themselves not as merchants but as platforms for progressive ideology, even when it risks alienating a large swath of customers — and risks attracting attention from law enforcement.
Wondering what the lease with the Mall ownership says relative to the stand the tenant is taking?????
When I saw they were a UK based brand, that was all I needed to know, because the British lefties are even crazier than ours. That’s okay…how long have they been there? Well, not for much longer…go woke, go broke.
12 years and going stong
Never heard of LUSH but now that I know about them, they will never see me as a customer.
LUSH: I can’t think of a more perfect name for a business located in downtown Anchorage.
Sign in front should state that the area beyond sign is a law enforcement free zone
sounds like they need the Bud Lite boycott them.
Good for them. Does that mean my business can be leftist free?
Oh no.
That would be at minimum, some sort of discrimination…
How about prosecuting them for harboring a fugitive for each offense, with maximum penalty? I wonder how much money the company is willing to lose to fines, and how many employees would be willing to serve jail time.
Karens with their toxic empathy.
Be a good Karen, LUSH, show us your illegals and you can sort it out with ICE and the FBI and the IRS in tow
They definitely need an ICE raid.
If your’e reading this on FB, please share article. Walk with your wallet.
I wonder if I post this sign at the end of my driveway, it might work?
“NO TAX ASSESSORS. NO EXCEPTIONS.”
Bully for you!!
Yup.
White people are supporting the demise of white, Christian, culture in America – through unfettered illegal immigration by largely uneducated, unwashed masses from the third world.
DEPORT ALL – ESPECIALLY THE DREAMER KIDS.
They just made the place a first stop on the ICE Tour….and the Whackadoo Mayor will shoot herself in the foot by defending it.
It’s comedy.
Companies that have ethics and standards I can appreciate.
Sure, Jan😅
Not sure what you mean.
By declaring they will not cooperate with a duly authorized law enforcement unit, the company declared they support criminals over the law abiding. Are you trying to say you support criminals and breaking the law?
I say “Go Bud Light” on them. To quote Democrats “No on is above the law.” Or does that only apply to Trump? The UK would come to your house if you posted anything critical of the store’s policy.
They are liberal garbage! I pray ICE pays them a visit and sends a bunch of illegal activists off to their homeland! Get woke go broke dummies!
RENTERS. Enough said.
Oh darn, and just when I was looking for a new radical leftist extremist source of cosmetics.
It’s hard to find cosmetics that blend well with a beard.
Cory Booker’s new beard might be registered at that sh|thole shoppe.
Most normal people refuse to shop at that business anyway.
They sell products made with aborted human preborn baby tissues
Gross.
A bold position. It would be so funny to see them actually defend it by force of arms. Left wing fools.
I mean… good luck. What are you going to do? Throw bath bombs at them? Pathetic virtue signaling.
So if ICE agents go to Lush the employees will badger them with moisturizers, hold them down to apply eyeshadow while they slap lipstick on them? Tough crowd alright!
It’s free advertising. You had never heard of them before, now you have, and they didn’t pay for that to happen.
There is such a thing as bad publicity.
Where will I get my purple hair dye now? Like a sign is going to stop anything. There are signs on the borders too, No Entry!
Good luck with that. Won’t get my business. Over-perfumed questionable soaps and skin care products. Just walking near the store could send someone into anaphylactic shock or an asthma attack.
Look, this is simply a marketeering ploy to lure in the politically polite for an ol’ fashion fleecing. The business of business is business; if it draws a lush crowd, you can expect more such sloganeering–the bane Wall Street.
Look, this is simply a marketeering ploy to lure in the politically polite for an ol’ fashion fleecing. The business of business is business; if it draws a lush crowd, you can expect more such sloganeering–the bane of Wall Street.
Maybe the IRS wants to visit them instead of ICE?
Why not both?
It’s actually nice when the insane and also anti-American, pro criminal whack jobs publicly label themselves, so that the rest of us can more easily avoid them, and spend our money elsewhere…..
Awesome; looks like Anchorage has its homelessness problem solved. The store believes in the free movement of folks, after all.
ICE FREE ZONE in Alaska?
Ok, now I know where to go and sleep when it gets cold.
Sad that over the decades Alaskans have gotten dumber and dumber. Perhaps it’s related to the dismal results being produced by our failing, yet expensive schools.
Pointless, ineffective, hollow, virtue-signaling.
I suddenly have the urge to wear a Star of David and enter the premises asking for ice for my drink.
I would suspect that there are illegal immigrant people working at that business.
No Exceptions on the freedom of movement across the globe…. Except ICE agents coming into our store?
Why would a company care whether immigration enforcement enters their establishment? Well, unless they are knowingly hiring illegal aliens.
Seems like a good way to assist ICE, not block them, if you ask me.
Stop conflating ICE with local law enforcement. I don’t want my taxes supporting masked men pulling people off of the streets without warrants.
They just could not help but cast themselves into a mess which will alienate probably 1/2 of their clientele…
Just brilliant.
Reufge city Cafe declares itself to be a safe harbor for victims of human trafficking. Yet they also are strongly opposed to ICE who is the direct line of defense against human trafficking.
I bet Lush has the same hypocritical policies.