The sit-in at a Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan escalated into arrests on Tuesday after protesters said federal immigration officers were staying at the hotel, according to the Associated Press. Police ordered the crowd to leave, and officers later arrested protesters who remained in the lobby, while an AP photographer saw dozens of people detained and loaded into buses outside the hotel.
Protesters packed into the hotel’s lobby during the demonstration and wore shirts with the message “Hilton houses ICE,” as they called on the hotel to stop federal immigration officers from staying there, the AP reported. The AP said a person who answered the phone at the hotel declined to comment and that an email to the hotel’s press office was not returned late Tuesday.
The AP reported that it was not immediately clear whether immigration officers were actually staying at the Hilton Garden Inn. The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the AP that the department would not disclose that information.
The AP placed the demonstration in the context of the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown and said it has spurred widespread opposition. The AP also cited concerns that hotels have sometimes struggled to manage tensions during immigration enforcement operations and related protests, describing the dispute as part of a wider national flashpoint.
As police actions unfolded in the lobby, the AP reported the department was still assessing the number of people arrested at the time of its reporting. For protesters, the confrontation centered on allegations about where federal immigration officers were based; for hotel officials, the AP reported no response to requests for comment.
The arrest came as the immigration enforcement campaign remained a central driver of street demonstrations across the country, with supporters and opponents both mobilizing around how federal actions are carried out and where enforcement personnel may be located.