The Hilton hotel chain said it cut ties with an independently franchised Hampton Inn in Lakeville, Minn., after the latter barred federal immigration agents from staying at the property and falsely claimed to have later reversed the anti-government policy.
“The independent hotel had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this,” Hilton stated on Jan. 6. “A recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values. As such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems.”
The move followed a statement, the prior day, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that Hilton had “launched a coordinated campaign in Minneapolis to refuse service to DHS law enforcement.”
“When officers attempted to book rooms using official government emails and rates, Hilton Hotels maliciously cancelled their reservations,” the U.S. agency said. “This is unacceptable. Why is Hilton Hotels siding with murderers and rapists to deliberately undermine and impede DHS law enforcement from their mission to enforce our nation’s immigration laws?”
According to a screen capture of an email from the hotel, it cancelled the federal agents’ stays after having “noticed an influx of gov reservations made today that have been for DHS, and we are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property.” (ICE refers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the department.)
“If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation,” the email in the screen capture added.
A conservative influencer posted video footage on Jan. 6 in which a front desk clerk at the hotel appeared to say that “we’re not accepting people from immigration, ICE agents, DHS onto our property” even after the hotel had said it reversed its policy.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of homeland security for public affairs, said the video was recorded “many hours” after the hotel’s management group had said that it “swiftly” addressed the issue.
