Pair of St. Paul hotels temporarily close amid ICE operations

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    Pair of St. Paul hotels temporarily close amid ICE operationsPair of St. Paul hotels temporarily close amid ICE operations

Two major hotels in downtown St. Paul remain temporarily closed as a local hospitality union cites fear among hotel workers.

Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, which owns both the DoubleTree and the InterContinental Riverfront Hotel, said in a statement the closures were due to “elevated safety and security concerns.”

UNITE HERE Local 17 represents about 6,000 hospitality workers across Minnesota, many of whom work in hotels.

“I’ve just never seen fear in our community like I’m seeing right now,” said Christa Sarrack, president of UNITE HERE Local 17.

Both hotels closed temporarily on Sunday.

While the hotel owners have not publicly linked the closures to immigration enforcement activity, union leaders said workers have expressed concern.

“I think that there was ICE presence in the vicinity, and there was some fear from guests and cancellations of large groups,” Sarrack said. “They felt it was a better choice to close.”

When asked about rumors that ICE agents were staying at the hotels, Sarrack said the union has not heard confirmation of that.

The union represents workers across about 20 hotels in the metro area and Rochester. Union leaders said hundreds of workers are currently staying home.

“This is overwhelming fear even among people who are documented. Many hotels have strict documentation policies. This is not just undocumented workers sitting at home being scared. This is workers across the board.” Sarrack said. “They definitely feel like they are being targeted for their skin color, so it doesn’t matter their documentation status. If their skin color is not white, then they feel like they are going to be targeted.”

Union leaders warn the impact could be long-lasting, especially in an industry largely made up of immigrant workers.

“We’re removing hard-working people from our industry,” Sarrack said. “It’s going to be hard to replace those workers.”

Sarrack also explained union members have been detained at MSP Airport.

“We have members at the airport who have been detained, who all have citizenship status and have gone through extensive background checks, and they’re still being detained,” she said. “I think the fear is very real, and people are just seeing that constantly in social media, so it just makes them not even want to take the risk of going outside.”

The union said it is supporting families who don’t feel comfortable going to work by dropping off groceries and providing rides.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures three times seeking additional clarity on the closures and whether they are connected to immigration enforcement activity.

As of publication, the company has not responded.
The post Pair of St. Paul hotels temporarily close amid ICE operations first appeared on KSTP.com 5 Eyewitness News.