The walkout by Wayfair employees, though tiny in comparison with the global anti-apartheid boycott, offers a glimpse of how protests might bring similar consequences to Americans who would not otherwise be directly harmed by the border policies.

The direct costs to Wayfair, in this case, were limited. The company promised, under pressure, to donate $100,000 — which it estimated to be more than the profit it made from the sale to the detention facility — to the Red Cross. But it refused to pledge to change its business practices, the employees’ main demand.

But the walkout also raised the specter of broader action, such as consumer boycotts or employee walkouts at other companies that do business with agencies involved in border enforcement. That expands the population now worrying about the border policies’ effect on their well-being — and if such actions occur, that group could widen even further.

Keeping It Local

“Irrespective of diverging religious opinions we shall fight for the right of our Jewish brothers and sisters to keep the freedom we ourselves value more highly than life,” Lutheran pastors throughout Denmark read aloud from a pastoral letter on Oct. 3, 1943.

The letter, which was signed by every Danish bishop and read aloud in Sunday services, was issued in response to the Nazi occupiers’ orders to round up and deport Danish Jews. Those orders, the bishops were saying in no uncertain terms, were not to be followed. Danes must protect their Jewish neighbors.

The public heeded that message, which was echoed by trade unions and other respected institutions. A rescue effort, organized by the Danish resistance and supported and funded by many ordinary citizens, managed to hide and then safely transport nearly all Danish Jews to safety in nearby Sweden.