“NO ROOM AT THE INN”: Hilton is accused by DHS of canceling hotel rooms for ICE agents in Minneapolis
You can’t stay here, but you don’t have to return home. After the Department of Homeland Security accused Hilton Hotels of abruptly canceling room reservations made by federal personnel using official government email addresses, the agency claims to have received that communication from the hotel chain.
DHS said Hilton participated in what it described as a “coordinated campaign” in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to refuse housing to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other immigration-related staff in a post posted on its official Twitter account on Monday. Screenshots of emails purportedly exchanged by Hilton employees were provided by the agency, one of which stated to an officer, “We are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property.”
“THE INN HAS NO ROOM!” the DHS post started. “In Minneapolis, @HiltonHotels has started a concerted effort to REFUSE service to DHS law enforcement. Hilton Hotels deliberately CANCELLED their reservations when authorities tried to make reservations using official government emails and prices.
From then, the comment intensified by adding, “This is UNACCEPTABLE.” Why are Hilton Hotels purposefully undermining and obstructing DHS law enforcement’s efforts to uphold our country’s immigration laws by supporting rapists and murderers?
DHS said the problem arose after officers made bookings in the Twin Cities region related to official travel. The agency did not say which Hilton-branded properties were impacted or how many reservations were impacted.
Days after ICE stepped up its enforcement efforts in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the conflict arose. That effort came after Nick Shirley’s popular YouTube exposé into potential childcare fraud garnered a lot of attention. Trump administration officials then emphasized the issue both online and in public statements.
Hilton has not addressed DHS’s allegations in public. A request for response from Mediaite, asking whether the cancellations were due to corporate policy, individual property decisions, or a miscommunication over booking terms, was not immediately answered by a business spokeswoman.
DHS has not yet stated if it intends to file formal complaints or take legal action in connection with the purported cancellations as of Monday, but the agency’s public statements implied that the dispute is far from resolved.
