Update: Hilton kicks out Hampton; DHS softens tone

McLEAN, Virginia – The Hampton Inn by Hilton in Lakeview, Minnesota, has been removed from the Hilton system after refusing reservations from DHS or ICE agents and its management company, Everpeak Hospitality, now only has a statement on its now-static website about how it addressed the matter and that it welcomes all to its hotels. What happens next in this saga remains to be seen.

The bad PR caused Hilton's stock to dip more than 2% on Monday after the news broke, but HLT rebounded strongly on Tuesday, up 2.63%.

“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. “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 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 Hilton statement referenced a video shot by conservative influencer Nick Sortor, who visited the property and was still told by the front desk agent that management was not accepting reservations under DHS or ICE, despite  Everpeak Hotels hours earlier releasing a statement to the contrary. That is what evidently prompted Hilton's action to remove the property from its system.

On Tuesday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the department welcomed Tuesday's move by Hilton. “Discriminatory business practices targeting DHS and deliberately undermining federal law enforcement are unAmerican and have real business consequences,” she said in a statement on X.

Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman, a long-time Hilton investor, defended Hilton on an X post on Tuesday, saying, “Hilton takes any discriminatory actions by its franchisees with the highest degree of seriousness for obvious reasons. It, however, does not directly control the hiring and firing decisions of personnel at the hotel in question. [It’s CEO] Chris Nassetta is highly respected by U.S. President Donald Trump and the current administration.”

McLaughlin's statement came a day after the Trump administration said that Hilton had launched a “coordinated campaign” to refuse service to DHS employees. “When officers attempted to book rooms using official government emails and rates, Hilton Hotels maliciously CANCELLED their reservations,” DHS wrote on X. “This is UNACCEPTABLE.”

Hilton issued an apology, stating that the hotel was independently owned and operated, and the actions did not reflect the company’s values.

On Monday, Everpeak Hospitality also noted that the cancellation was at odds with their policy and the same statement still remains a top their website.

“Everpeak Hospitality has moved swiftly to address this matter as it was inconsistent with our policy of being a welcoming place for all,” the Everpeak statement read. “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 is projected to be sending 2,000 additional ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officer into Minneapolis this week, per CBS News.