Minneapolis Hilton cancels ICE agents’ hotel reservations | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
A Hilton hotel in Minnesota, where the Trump administration deployed officers following allegations of fraud against Somali immigrants, has canceled reservations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday.
A post on Department X said Hilton canceled their reservation after ICE officers booked rooms using official government emails and rates.
The department also released screenshots of emails in which the hotel operators said they “noticed the influx of GOV reservations for DHS today” and did not allow any ICE officers to stay at the property.
A spokesperson for Hilton said in a statement that the brand’s hotels “serve as places that welcome everyone” and that the hotel that canceled the reservations is independently owned and operated. The spokesperson said the cancellations “do not reflect Hilton values.”
“We are investigating this matter with this individual hotel and can confirm that Hilton is working with governments, law enforcement and community leaders around the world to ensure our properties are open and welcoming to everyone,” the spokesperson said.
Google reviews for what is believed to be the hotel location in question, in an outer suburb of Minneapolis, lit up with a mix of one- and five-star reviews Monday afternoon; some called the hotel “un-American” and others praised it for not hosting ICE.
protesters gathered Outside of hotels in Minnesota and other locations around the country where ICE agents stay, they are disrupting sleep by making noise late into the night and urging hotels not to allow agents to stay on their properties.
Federal officials in recent weeks have cited Minnesota’s Somali community as a hotspot for fraud involving millions of federal dollars intended for social services. Immigrant rights advocates accused the administration of using fraud investigations as a pretext to target Somali immigrants more broadly.
Shares of the hotel chain were down 1.5% in afternoon trading.
