(Alpha News): Hilton Hotels said in a new statement Tuesday morning that it is taking “immediate action” to cut ties with a Minnesota hotel for refusing to provide rooms for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel.
The latest development comes after DHS accused Hilton on Monday of launching a “coordinated campaign in Minneapolis to REFUSE service to DHS law enforcement.”
“If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation,” the Hampton Inn by Hilton in Lakeville said in an email, according to DHS.
There was intense public backlash with calls from conservatives to boycott the hotel chain.
Both Hilton and the hotel owner, Everpeak Hospitality, issued statements apologizing for the situation and saying they were working with impacted guests to ensure accommodations.
But a new video published by influencer Nick Sortor cast doubt on those statements.
Sortor posed as a government agent wanting to book 10 rooms, which showed up as available on the booking website. But the desk worker continued to deny services.
Sortor asked if he could get the rooms at a government rate.
“It depends because there’s a lot of stuff going on right now,” the worker responded. “What agency is it for?”
“They’d be Department of Homeland Security,” Sortor responded.
“So, we’re not accepting people from immigration, ICE agents, DHS into our property,” the worker said. “I just talked to the owner of the building and he didn’t say there had been any changes.”
In a social media post accompanying the video, Sortor warned Hilton, “REVOKE THEIR LICENSE, HILTON, OR IT’S GOING TO COST YOU DEARLY. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED. This is an INCREDIBLY dumb battle to choose!”
Sortor’s video was posted early Tuesday morning and filmed around 11 p.m. Monday night.
Later Tuesday morning, the corporate Hilton office took “immediate action to remove” the Lakeville Hampton Inn from its systems.
“Apparently, Hilton Hotels is terminating the franchise effective immediately,” billionaire Bill Ackman wrote, to which Hilton responded by “confirming” his comment.
“The independent hotel owner had assured 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,” Hilton said in a statement.
DHS has surged federal law enforcement resources to the Twin Cities area over the past month to conduct immigration enforcement.
