Immigration, ICE,
and a Hotel Rebranded

| published January 8, 2026 |

By R. Alan Clanton,
Thursday Review editor

In recent months, immigration debates can fan political flames which can then turn into local firestorms, quickly. Such is the intensity of this heat—even in the chilly Minnesota winter—that an act as simple as booking a room in a Minneapolis hotel can become fraught with uncertainty and instability.

Author and frequent Thursday Review writer Jennifer Richards (she has written a dozen articles for TR under the name Jennifer Walker-James) found out firsthand when the Hampton Inn where she had booked a room was forced to change its name and logo overnight, and guests were greeted with hurriedly-made notes explaining that the hotel was “no longer operating as a Hampton by Hilton” facility.

The Trump administration’s ongoing use of DHS employees and ICE agents to enforce—some would say impose a crackdown—on immigration laws, has found itself spilling over into predictable and unpredictable ways into the routine business of weekend and overnight stays and work-related travel.

After a video surfaced which seemed to show that the local owner of a Hampton Inn (officially called Hampton by Hilton) near Minneapolis was refusing to allow DHS and ICE agents to book rooms at the facility, the Hilton Hotels conglomerate booted the hotel from its franchise. Within hours, the Minneapolis hotel was stripped of its exterior Hampton signage and all vestiges of either “Hampton” or “Hilton” from the interior areas.

The local owner and its management company—Everpeak Hospitality—had previously told reporters that the hotel did not discriminate in any way after reports had surfaced that the facility was manipulating its booking system to bar federal agents from staying at the hotel. But a video shared earlier in the week by independent journalist Nick Sorter showed an employee working the Front Desk of the hotel confirming that DHS and ICE agents were indeed barred from the facility.

Rankled by this contradiction, parent company Hilton Hotels ejected the Minneapolis facility from its franchise, telling Fox News and other news outlets that the hotel did not meet its “standards and values” as “a welcoming place for all.”

The fracas evolved very quickly in a city currently on edge as DHS agents and ICE agents have converged on Minneapolis against the backdrop of a significant investigation into alleged fraud, and with an escalating controversy surrounding the use of ICE agents to detain people and make arrests. Only days ago, an ICE agent fired upon a driver who was attempting to evade agents. Renee Nicole Good died of her injuries. President Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem have both said the ICE agent fired in self-defense, though the video evidence provides no clear proof one way or the other. Good was apparently not a target of the ICE raid.

The shooting—currently being investigated by the FBI—will no doubt stoke the already-shrill controversy, and deepen the divide among those who support more aggressive crackdowns on illegal immigration, and those who feel the vast sweeps are a heavy-handed intrusion into freedoms and tantamount to government-sponsored terror.

Minnesota fell into the crosshairs of the Trump administration and congressional Republicans when investigations began to expose what may be up to $9 billion in fraudulent Medicaid activity surrounding schools and day care centers, many of these owned and managed by Somalis. Though some of the investigations date back more than four years, a media frenzy erupted when independent journalists and YouTube videos captured evidence of the pervasiveness of the fraud, especially in areas around Minneapolis.

As the furor grew in intensity last week, it prompted Minnesota Governor Tim Walz—a rising star within the Democratic Party after he was selected by then-Vice President Kamala Harris to become her running mate in 2024—to announce last week he would not seek re-election. Walz has attempted push-back against some of the attention, suggesting that the focus on the Somali-run day care and learning centers is little more than racism. But the scandal has nevertheless grown in intensity, and as recently as last week more federal agents were sent into Minnesota to conduct raids in an effort to round-up persons not in the U.S. legally..

As in other cities where the Trump administration has either sent troops, ICE agents, or commandeered National Guard forces (Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC), the crackdown has prompted both peaceful demonstrations as well as violent protest. On Thursday, news sources reported that two people were shot by ICE agents in Portland (reports indicate both of those shot have been hospitalized).

TR writer Jennifer Richards arrived to Lakeville, near Minneapolis, on a work-related trip on Tuesday, just as the events surrounding the hotel were unfolding, and in real time she experienced watching the hotel where she was staying get stripped of its Hilton branding as a result—apparently—of the actions of hotel staff.

Some liberal and conservative news sources pointed out that the Hilton Hotel company’s top executive officer, Chris Nassetta, is on generally friendly terms with President Donald Trump and the current White House team. Fox News quoted hedge fund manager Bill Ackman—who owns stock in Hilton—as praising Hilton’s top management for acting swiftly and decisively to remove the Minneapolis hotel from its roster of franchisees.

Richards took photos of some of the notices guests at the hotel received or encountered in the hours after Hilton took its action against the Lakeville facility. One brief letter stated:


Thank you for choosing our hotel for your stay in Lakeville.

We would like to inform you that our hotel is no longer part of the Hampton by Hilton system. While we understand this may be unexpected, please rest assured that we remain fully committed to serving you as our guest.

If you have any questions or need assistance during your stay, please contact front desk.

The letter was signed only “Hotel Management.”

Richards also sent us a copy of the email confirmation she received from her Lakeville-Minneapolis stay, which thanked her for her visit and encourage her to sign up as a Hilton Honors member, but she had received the email before she had checked out, prompting concern. When she attempted to call to find out what was happening, she found that the phone lines were not working. She was, however, able to stay another night in the newly “independent” hotel. Richards has also safely departed Minneapolis for her next business stop.



Related Thursday Review articles:

The Power Player: A Look at the Life of Dick Cheney; By R. Alan Clanton; Thursday Review editor; November 5, 2025.

Striving Against Darkness: The Story of Holocaust Survivor Ann Rosenheck; By Jennifer Walker-James; Thursday Review Features Writer; November 7, 2015.