An Altadena bakery is making anti-ICE cookies and they sell out in minutes
Cookie lovers looking to show solidarity with Minnesota residents fighting back against aggressive immigration raids — while also satisfying their own sweet tooth — flocked this week to an Altadena cookie company.
The object of their tasty rage? Multi-colored vanilla sugar cookies iced with an anti-ICE message.
Since Altadena Cookie Company owners started making the “F— ICE” iced cookies on Wednesdays, a line of eager customers have waited for the small business to open, and hundreds of the treats are sold out within 10 minutes of opening.
“A lot of people are feeling the way we are,” said Michelle Taylor, who co-owns the bakery with Jessica Christopher. Both women lost their homes in the Eaton fire and only just opened their business in November. “We’re concerned about the state of things and we don’t know what to do. Well, we know how to make cookies, so that’s what we are doing.”
All proceeds from the $6 cookies will be donated to the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota Immigrant Rapid Response Fund.
“Since we can’t put our feet on the ground in Minnesota, the best we can do is put our money on the ground there,” Christopher said.
On Friday, in the midst of national anti-ICE protests, there was a line of customers out the door from 10 to 11 a.m., and those who missed out on the day’s batch promised to return. Each cookie, hand-decorated by Taylor and Christopher, take several hours to set, and both women have been sacrificing sleep and hand fatigue to produce the in-demand sweets.
Megan Moore, 36, waited half an hour Friday morning to buy half a dozen specially-decorated ICE-themed cookies from Altadena Cookie Company. The Altadenan said she was fully engaged in supporting a small business and protesting against deadly federal immigration enforcement, especially on National Day of Action.
“I am here because this is my community and this is my cause,” said Moore, who took the day off from working at a digital media company in Hollywood.
Jose and Jenn Hernandez of South Pasadena planned to take photos of themselves and their daughter taking a bite out of the cookies and post them online, if only to inspire others to resist the Trump administration’s policies.
“We have to do everything we can, these are bad times,” Jenn Hernandez said.
Her husband describes himself as the darkest-skinned in the family and said their children worry about him since the U.S. Supreme Court in September allowed ICE agents to use race as a factor in deciding which people to stop for immigration checks.
“I’m a project manager and I’m a college graduate, but it doesn’t matter, I’ve experienced racism,” the American citizen said. “We try to teach our kids to stay grounded and be proud of who they are.”
Friends Bria A. and Laura A., both of Pasadena, said they preferred not to give out their last names because of how heated the national stage has become. Both said they will use their ICE cookies as fuel at an “ICE Out of Everywhere” rally they plan to attend at Pasadena City Hall on Friday night.
“This gives us a sense of community, to see how many different businesses are showing their support,” Bria said.