Marriott, Choice hotels say they would not serve as detention centers after ICE raids.
As U.S. cities brace for President Donald Trump's promised immigration raids this weekend, two popular hotel chains said they would not serve as detention centers for immigrants in the event of a housing shortage.
Beginning Sunday, federal immigration officers were expected to sweep across as many as nine cities to arrest undocumented immigrants as outlined by President Trump. The raids could impact as many as 2,000 people although Trump has not indicated the size and scope. New Orleans, which had been targeted originally, is exempt because of the storm.
A spokesperson for ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the hotel chains' statements regarding cooperation with ICE in housing migrants rounded up in the raids. "Our hotels are not configured to be detention facilities, but to be open to guests and community members as well. While we have no particular insights into whether the U.S. government is considering the use of hotels to aid in the situation at the border, Marriott has made the decision to decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities.”
Hilton, Wyndham Hotels and Best Western — who are also under pressure from activists to deny facilities to ICE — did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment on Friday.