Hilton is dissolving its relationship with a hotel in Minneapolis after the Department of Homeland Security accused it of refusing reservations for agents conducting immigration enforcement.
DHS accused Hilton of a “coordinated campaign in Minneapolis to REFUSE service to DHS law enforcement,” calling the cancellation malicious.
The blast on social media led Hilton initially to apologize. Hilton then moved the hotel from its association after stating it learned that the local management had not fixed the situation as promised.
Hilton said the property is independently owned and operated, and the actions were not reflective of Hilton’s values.
“The independent hotel owner had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this. 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 hotel chain said in a social media statement.
“Hilton is — and has always been — a welcoming place for all. We are also engaging with all of our franchisees to reinforce the standards we hold them to across our system to help ensure this does not happen again,” the statement said.
The hotel’s promise that it was correcting the situation seemed to fall apart when Nick Sortor, an internet personality, posted a video to social media early Tuesday of him asking for rooms while posing as a DHS agent.
He said the front desk manager, seen in the video, said that he had recently spoken to the owner before Mr. Sortor walked in around 10:50 p.m. Monday night, confirming the anti-DHS policy was still in effect.
Mr. Sortor called for revoking the hotel’s license, or “it’s going to cost you dearly. You’ve been warned.”
His encounter contradicted the statement from Hilton that the hotel had taken immediate action to resolve the matter and had begun contacting impacted guests to ensure they were accommodated.
“We have been in direct contact with the hotel, and they have apologized for the actions of their team, which was not in keeping with their policies,” a statement from Hilton said.
In its original complaint posted to social media, DHS 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?”
In trading, the price of Hilton shares dipped about 2% on Monday after the DHS post.
Homeland Security shared two screenshots from a redacted Hilton email address dated Friday that describes the canceled booking.
“After further investigation online, we have found information about immigration work connected with your name and we will be canceling your upcoming reservation,” the email reads. “You should see a proper cancellation email in your inbox shortly from Hilton.”
The second email said that after noticing an influx of DHS reservations made on that date, the hotel would not be allowing any Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other immigration agents to stay at the property.
It encouraged the recipient to pass the information along to immigration enforcement coworkers.
Everpeak Hospitality, the hotel operators, had said that the cancellation was inconsistent with their policy.
“Everpeak Hospitality has moved swiftly to address this matter as it was inconsistent with our policy of being a welcoming place for all,” the company said in a statement. “We are in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated. We do not discriminate against any individuals or agencies and apologize to those impacted.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin questioned on social media how Everpeak Hospitality has “moved swiftly to address this matter” when she said that DHS and ICE have not heard anything from the company.
Hotels in the Twin Cities faced protests last month as Homeland Security moved forward with Operation Metro Surge, launched late last year to target undocumented Somali immigrants in the region.
The Trump administration has doubled down on accusations of social services fraud at Somali-run childcare centers in the state recently.
An immigration deployment is reportedly expanding to roughly 2,000 agents and officers, CBS News first reported, to oversee a 30-day surge in operations in the Twin Cities.
This would make the region the first major target of the Trump administration’s expanded immigration crackdown in the new year.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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