Wave Staff Report
TYSONS, VA — Dozens of Black immigrant rights advocates, including the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Advancement Project and Families for Freedom, staged a direct action May 14, calling on Hilton Hotels to end contracts and accommodations supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
The protest took place during National Police Week, when thousands of law enforcement officers from across the country travel to the nation’s capital to honor fallen officers and gather for events throughout Washington, D.C.
The action was part of an ongoing campaign entitled “Break the ICE Machine,” which targets corporations profiting from detention, deportation and the criminalization of Black immigrant communities.
Demonstrators entered the hotel carrying symbolic coffins representing lives lost due to detention, deportation and anti-immigrant violence, along with cages symbolizing the inhumane treatment of migrant children and families. Protesters rallied throughout the hotel lobby, demanding accountability from corporations they say are helping sustain the infrastructure of immigrant persecution.
A letter was presented to the hotel’s management by BAJI’s Executive Director Nana Gyamfi and Director of Legal Tsion Gurmu addressed to Hilton Hotels Corporation CEO Christopher Nasatta and its Board of Directors. The letter contained the demands for Hilton to stop accepting reservations for accommodations and training from ICE and other federal immigration agencies, establishing a clear, brand-wide policy prohibiting their reservations and accommodations, and to stop retaliating against franchisees who refuse to do business with federal immigration agencies.
“Corporations cannot continue pretending they are neutral while profiting from the suffering of Black immigrants and other marginalized communities,” Gyamfi said. “Every room booked for ICE agents helps fuel a system rooted in fear, family separation, detention and displacement.
“We are calling for an end to the role Hilton properties play in this system — and for the company to align its practices with the values it publicly claims,” Gyamfi added.
BAJI said the demonstration was designed to expose the role private corporations play in normalizing and facilitating immigration enforcement operations while communities nationwide continue facing raids, detention, and deportation.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup expected to bring millions of international visitors to U.S. cities, forced compliance with federal enforcement agencies poses a direct threat to occupancy rates during one of the most significant hospitality moments in recent history.
The action comes amid escalating immigration enforcement efforts nationwide and growing criticism of corporations accused of quietly benefiting from detention and deportation systems while publicly promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Organizers said the protest is part of a broader national effort to pressure corporations, elected officials and institutions to stop enabling what they describe as a “violent deportation machine.”
