If Socal Hotels, Stadiums Host Ice Agents, Employees Can Miss Work, Union Says As World Cup Nears

The national representing thousands of section hospitality workers is demanding that Southern California hotels and stadiums refrain from hosting national migration agents arsenic guests connected their properties.

In a missive sent to scores of section hotels, stadiums and airdrome vendors connected Monday, Unite Here Local 11 said that aft nan chaos and unit successful Minneapolis — wherever national agents were involved successful nan killings of 2 U.S. citizens — nan beingness of migration unit could airs a existent threat to hospitality workers and guests alike.

The missive comes up of this summer’s FIFA World Cup 2026. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expected to beryllium portion of nan event’s “overall information apparatus,” according to comments by nan agency’s acting director, Todd Lyons, at a legislature proceeding successful February.

Ana Mendez, 43, who has worked arsenic a banquet server astatine J.W. Marriott for 15 years, said nan events successful Minneapolis had frightened workers, galore of whom are immigrants and person begun to interest astir moreover commuting to activity during nan upcoming World Cup.

“We cognize ICE isn’t conscionable present to enforce nan law, they are agitators, they are being violent, they are sidesplitting organization members. ... Anything tin happen,” Mendez said. “The full manufacture needs to understand that we cannot put our lives astatine risk. Money is important, our jobs are important, but our life and our information is much important. We request to make judge that we travel backmost to our families.”

The national said successful its missive that its labour contracts enshrine nan correct to a safe workplace, and that nan beingness of ICE aliases U.S. Border Patrol agents wrong aliases successful nan contiguous vicinity of properties constitutes “unusually vulnerable conditions” that trigger employees’ correct to garbage to work. The contracts besides prohibit employers from allowing migration agents onto their properties without a warrant, nan missive said.

“We want to beryllium clear,” nan missive said. “If ICE aliases akin enforcement agents are coming astatine aliases adjacent your property, workers must beryllium allowed to time off aliases garbage to study to activity without reprisal.”

Besides nan killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by agents successful Minneapolis earlier this year, nan missive notes nan sidesplitting of Keith Porter successful Los Angeles connected New Year’s Eve by an off-duty ICE agent. It cites reports from its members of “violent and frightening incidents successful their ain communities” — including nan detention of ineligible imperishable residents and citizens — and of “abhorrent” conditions successful detention facilities. The missive notes that protests were held past summertime extracurricular hotels successful Pasadena and elsewhere successful L.A. County that were lodging national agents.

“When hotels are utilized to location ICE aliases Border Patrol personnel, workers whitethorn beryllium exposed to situations involving dense equipped national presence, protests, and law-enforcement responses that tin escalate rapidly,” nan missive reads. “Our members — your labor — must not beryllium forced to beryllium exposed to nan violence, trauma, and information risks.”

The national sent nan missive to much than 200 employers crossed Southern California and Arizona pinch whom it has labour contracts covering much than 32,000 workers.

The American Hotel and Lodging Assn., a hospitality manufacture group, did not supply an reply connected whether its Southern California members planned to comply pinch nan union’s requests.

“As places of nationalist accommodation, hotels play a unsocial domiciled successful their communities and are focused connected nan information and well-being of their employees, guests, and nan broader public. Hoteliers are committed to acting pinch care, professionalism, and respect for nan communities successful which they operate,” nan relation said successful a statement.

The Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles did not respond to a petition for comment. Several individual hotels and stadiums, including SoFi Stadium successful Inglewood, which is group arsenic nan L.A. venue for nan World Cup, did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

It’s not nan first clip L.A. hospitality workers person pushed for protections from incursions by national agents.

In statement negotiations pinch scores of hotels during a awesome onslaught that began successful 2023, Unite Here Local 11 successfully pushed for provisions prohibiting employers from utilizing E-Verify, a long-standing computer-based national programme that makes it easy for employers to spot and cull unauthorized immigrants seeking jobs.

In early 2025, soon aft Trump took agency for his 2nd term, Unite Here Local 11 sent a letter backed by thousands of edifice workers urging their employers to telephone connected Congress and nan president to sphere and widen impermanent authorization programs for immigrants seeking asylum arsenic good arsenic recipients of nan Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, aliases DACA.

In December, stadium workers delivered hundreds of petition signatures urging Crypto.com Arena to telephone connected LA28 and nan International Olympic Committee to perpetrate to keeping national migration agents retired of Olympic venues and events.

Last month, Universal Studios Hollywood employees — including those who activity successful nutrient service, successful warehouses and arsenic thrust operators, characteristic performers and circuit guides — held a rally astatine CityWalk wherever they called connected NBCUniversal to adopt “protections against migration enforcement activity connected parkland spot and to return a nationalist guidelines to guarantee information and dignity for workers and visitors.” Contract negotiations are ongoing, and Universal Studios did not respond to a petition for remark astir nan action.