Hilton is booting an independently franchised Minneapolis hotel from operating under its name after it banned immigration agents and then lied about reversing the policy.
The global hotel chain was swiftly denounced Monday after Homeland Security shared an email from the Hampton Inn by Hilton in Lakeville notifying the agency it was cancelling reservations made by agents ahead of an immigration enforcement deployment.
“The independent hotel owner had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this,” read a statement from Hilton posted on X Tuesday morning.
“As such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems.”
The statement also referenced a video shot by conservative influencer Nick Sortor in which he visited the property and was told by the front desk agent that reservations under DHS or ICE were not allowed, per management, despite the operator Everpeak Hospitality releasing a statement to the contrary just hours earlier.
“We’re not accepting people from immigration, ICE agents, DHS onto our property … it’s just policy,” the clerk told Sortor in the video on X viewed nearly 2 million times.
Immigration authorities have turned their attention to the Twin Cities in recent weeks amid a percolating billion-dollar human services fraud scandal involving Somali-run day care centers.
Some 2,000 federal workers, including up to 1,500 ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and hundreds of Homeland Security Investigation agents were deployed to the Minneapolis area on Sunday, according to officials.
But the Lakeville Hampton Inn made it clear that immigration agents were not welcome.
“We have 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,” the email the hotel sent to agents with reservations read in part.
“If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation.”
After agents’ reservations were canceled, DHS slammed Hilton in a pointed statement on X.
“When officers attempted to book rooms using official government emails and rates, Hilton Hotels maliciously CANCELLED their reservations. This is UNACCEPTABLE,” DHS said in a statement shared on X.
“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?” the statement concluded.
In response, Hilton swiftly issued a statement of its own assuring that the hotel’s discriminatory policy was not in line with its values.
“This hotel is independently owned and operated, and these actions were not reflective of Hilton values. 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 Hilton spokesperson said in a statement.
“They have taken immediate action to resolve this matter and are contacting impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated. Hilton’s position is clear: Our properties are open to everyone and we do not tolerate any form of discrimination.”
But Hilton’s assurances were proven unfounded the next day when Sortor visited the property and was told the hotel was not accepting reservations from DHS agents.
“I just talked to the owner of the building, and he didn’t say they had any changes, it’s just policy,” the Hilton franchisee told Sortor in the video.
In Hilton’s follow-up statement announcing it was severing ties with the Hampton Inn Lakeville, the company said it would also probe whether any other franchisees were enforcing similar anti-ICE policies.
“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.”
https://nypost.com/2026/01/06/us-news/hilton-drops-minneapolis-hotel-that-lied-about-ice-agent-ban/
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