Washington D.C. – UNITE HERE Local 25, the union for hospitality workers in D.C., Prince George’s County, and Northern Virginia, issued a statement today calling on hotels to refuse cooperation with ICE during upcoming raids -- and vowing to take action to ensure hotel rooms are not used as prison cells.

“ICE and the administration’s treatment of immigrants is despicable,” said UNITE HERE Local 25 Executive Secretary-Treasurer, John Boardman. “Not just union properties, but every hotel in the D.C. region must publicly refuse to let ICE use their rooms as prison cells for immigrants. Working with ICE is a disgusting complicity in one of the greatest American injustices of our time. Local 25 members took jobs in an industry that’s supposed to welcome and serve guests—not one that jails and deports them.”

In the coming weeks, Local 25, in conjunction with our community partners, will collect signatures from workers calling on major chains to refuse cooperation with ICE and the vicious tactics of the Trump administration.

As a union of immigrants, we have long been on the frontlines fighting for justice for workers, regardless of race, religion, or documentation status.