As the busiest shopping season of the year kicks off, controversy is swirling around two planned days of action in Fort Bragg by a grassroots pro-democracy organization.
The Indivisible Mendocino Coast group has planned “solidarity crawls” scheduled for Saturday and on Dec. 20 to encourage people to shop at locally owned businesses, specifically those displaying a message of support for immigrants.
In a letter sent Nov. 18, the group asked business owners to put a sticker in their windows that says, “We Stand With Immigrant Families.” The request also asks businesses to designate a private space where law enforcement will not be allowed access without a warrant.
“When others are being attacked, the simple act of bystanders saying, ‘I don’t like this, it should stop,’ makes all the difference,” said Christie Olson Day, speaking for Indivisible Mendocino Coast. “That’s what this project encourages. The city government has issued resolutions in support of immigrants, though it has not declared Fort Bragg a sanctuary city. More voices of support only strengthen both the message and the community’s resolve.”
Concerns of a backlash
While many Fort Bragg businesses are taking part, at least one longtime resident is expressing concern that the signage and messaging may do more harm than good.
“The reason why I got involved is that I was approached by several business people who were nervous about this letter and were afraid to get involved themselves,” said entrepreneur and longtime Fort Bragg resident Marc Tager. “Fort Bragg is a tiny town. Our local business district needs all the help from everyone. They don’t need to be singled out for not complying to someone’s rules, but that’s basically what this does.”
Tager said now is the time to support all locally owned businesses, whether they have the sticker up or not.
“We need our local dollars to stay here and support everybody — not just people who think like us,” he said. “It’s still America, and I believe we can have differences of opinion.”
“Fort Bragg is a tiny town. Our local business district needs all the help from everyone. They don’t need to be singled out for not complying to someone’s rules, but that’s basically what this does.” Marc Tager, Fort Bragg resident
Olson Day disagrees with the idea that the effort is divisive.
“Support for immigration is at a record high,” she said, citing a June 2025 Gallup poll showing 79 percent of Americans view immigration as good for the country and 78 percent support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. “There’s also growing concern about protecting due process rights. You might not know it from online discourse, but these are not divisive issues in real life.”
She emphasized that participation is optional.
“There’s no pressure,” she said. “We have no way of knowing if a business chooses not to participate unless they make that public.”
Tager said Indivisible Mendocino Coast’s heart is in the right place but believes they should just encourage people to shop local without any signage needed because of the already existing support for immigrants in Fort Bragg.
“I think these folks are great people and Indivisible (Mendocino Coast) is a great organization,” he said. “But this isn’t the right move.”