The union representing thousands of local hospitality workers is demanding that Southern California hotels and stadiums refrain from hosting federal immigration agents as guests on their properties.
In a letter sent to scores of local hotels, stadiums and airport vendors on Monday, Unite Here Local 11 said that after the chaos and violence in Minneapolis — where federal agents were involved in the killings of two U.S. citizens — the presence of immigration personnel could pose a real danger to hospitality workers and guests alike.
The letter comes ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup 2026. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expected to be part of the event’s “overall security apparatus,” according to comments by the agency’s acting director, Todd Lyons, at a congressional hearing in February.
Ana Mendez, 43, who has worked as a banquet server at J.W. Marriott for 15 years, said the events in Minneapolis had scared workers, many of whom are immigrants and have begun to worry about even commuting to work during the upcoming World Cup.
“We know ICE isn’t just here to enforce the law, they are agitators, they are being violent, they are killing community members. … Anything can happen,” Mendez said. “The whole industry needs to understand that we cannot put our lives at risk. Money is important, our jobs are important, but our life and our safety is more important. We need to make sure that we come back to our families.”
The union said in its letter that its labor contracts enshrine the right to a safe workplace, and that the presence of ICE or U.S. Border Patrol agents inside or in the immediate vicinity of properties constitutes “unusually dangerous conditions” that trigger employees’ right to refuse to work. The contracts also prohibit employers from allowing immigration agents onto their properties without a warrant, the letter said.
“We want to be clear,” the letter said. “If ICE or similar enforcement agents are present at or near your property, workers must be allowed to leave or refuse to report to work without reprisal.”
Besides the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by agents in Minneapolis earlier this year, the letter notes the killing of Keith Porter in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve by an off-duty ICE agent. It cites reports from its members of “violent and frightening incidents in their own communities” — including the detention of legal permanent residents and citizens — and of “abhorrent” conditions in detention facilities. The letter notes that protests were held last summer outside hotels in Pasadena and elsewhere in L.A. County that were housing federal agents.
“When hotels are used to house ICE or Border Patrol personnel, workers may be exposed to situations involving heavy armed federal presence, protests, and law-enforcement responses that can escalate rapidly,” the letter reads. “Our members — your employees — must not be forced to be exposed to the violence, trauma, and safety risks.”
The union sent the letter to more than 200 employers across Southern California and Arizona with whom it has labor contracts covering more than 32,000 workers.
The American Hotel and Lodging Assn., a hospitality industry group, did not provide an answer on whether its Southern California members planned to comply with the union’s requests.
“As places of public accommodation, hotels play a unique role in their communities and are focused on the safety and well-being of their employees, guests, and the broader public. Hoteliers are committed to acting with care, professionalism, and respect for the communities in which they operate,” the association said in a statement.
The Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles did not respond to a request for comment. Several individual hotels and stadiums, including SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which is set as the L.A. venue for the World Cup, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It’s not the first time L.A. hospitality workers have pushed for protections from incursions by federal agents.
In contract negotiations with scores of hotels during a major strike that began in 2023, Unite Here Local 11 successfully pushed for provisions prohibiting employers from using E-Verify, a long-standing computer-based federal program that makes it easy for employers to spot and reject unauthorized immigrants seeking jobs.
In early 2025, soon after Trump took office for his second term, Unite Here Local 11 sent a letter backed by thousands of hotel workers urging their employers to call on Congress and the president to preserve and extend temporary authorization programs for immigrants seeking asylum as well as recipients of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.
In December, stadium workers delivered hundreds of petition signatures urging Crypto.com Arena to call on LA28 and the International Olympic Committee to commit to keeping federal immigration agents out of Olympic venues and events.
Last month, Universal Studios Hollywood employees — including those who work in food service, in warehouses and as ride operators, character performers and tour guides — held a rally at CityWalk where they called on NBCUniversal to adopt “protections against immigration enforcement activity on park property and to take a public stand to ensure safety and dignity for workers and visitors.” Contract negotiations are ongoing, and Universal Studios did not respond to a request for comment about the action.
