Hotel Denies Rooms to ICE Agents, Sparking Controversy

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has accused a hotel in Minneapolis of deliberately denying accommodations to ICE agents who were in the city for a significant operation targeting illegal immigration and investigating fraud.

On Sunday, around 2,000 federal agents were deployed, which included up to 1,500 personnel from ICE’s enforcement operations and a number of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents, officials stated.

As the federal agents began arriving in Minneapolis, DHS claimed on Monday that staff at the Hilton Minneapolis refused to serve ICE agents.

DHS alleged that there was a “coordinated campaign” by the hotel staff aimed at denying service to law enforcement officials in the area.

“When one employee tried to make a room reservation through official government channels, Hilton Hotels maliciously canceled it. This behavior is simply unacceptable,” DHS stated in a message shared on X.

The statement raised a troubling question: “Why would Hilton Hotels align themselves with criminals and actively obstruct the efforts of DHS to enforce immigration laws?”

DHS also shared what it claimed was an email from the Hampton Inn by Hilton in Lakeville, Minnesota, which was sent on January 2. This email reportedly stated: “We found information regarding immigration activities linked to your name and will be canceling your future reservations.”

The email further mentioned a high volume of government reservations for DHS, adding, “We do not permit ICE or immigration officials within our premises.” It concluded, “If you are with DHS or ICE, please inform us as we need to cancel your booking.”

So far, hotel representatives have not responded to inquiries for comment.

This month-long operation in Minneapolis marks one of the largest deployments by DHS in a U.S. city in recent years, aiming to enhance investigations into fraud concerning federally funded programs.

Alongside this, ICE officials will be active in the Twin Cities area, prioritizing the apprehension of immigrants with deportation orders.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino, who has previously managed immigration operations in major cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, is set to arrive in Minnesota to assist with these operations.

The scope of this operation is unprecedented; insiders have indicated that it could deploy as many HSI officers to Minneapolis as those allocated to the entire state of Arizona.

“This is a significant deployment of resources,” one official remarked, referencing recent large federal operations in Chicago and noting that Minneapolis is beginning to be viewed as “the new Chicago.”