By Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Hilton Worldwide Holdings has removed from its system a Minneapolis hotel that has refused to accept the bookings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the hotel operator said in a post on X on Tuesday.
A Hampton Inn, a Hilton brand, located outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota refused to accommodate ICE agents, the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on social media platform X on Monday.
The Trump administration has surged officers in the
area after allegations of fraud involving Somali immigrants.
"We are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems. Hilton is - and has always been - a welcoming place for all," the company said.
It made its comments after a video was posted on X on Tuesday which appeared to show ICE agents again being refused rooms by the hotel.
"A recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values," Hilton said.
Everpeak Hospitality, which runs the Hampton Inn, was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday on the video. It said on Monday that it was 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," a statement on their website said.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on X that the agency has not heard from Everpeak Hospitality.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on social media platform X on Monday that after ICE officers booked rooms using official government emails and rates, a staff member at the Hampton Inn Lakeview on Jan. 2 canceled their reservations.
"We are not allowing any ICE or immigrant agents to stay at our property," the email threads from the hotel posted by the DHS account said.
Shares of the hotel operator rose 1.56% in morning trading, after being down 2.46% at close on Monday.
(Reporting by Anshuman Tripathy in Bengaluru and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; editing by Barbara Lewis, Alexandra Hudson)
