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.
Unite Here Local 11 sent out more than 200 letters to hotels and stadiums across Southern California and Arizona, saying the presence of immigration personnel could pose a real danger to hospitality workers and customers alike.
Unions says hosting of federal immigration agents creates “unusually dangerous conditions” for workers, demands that companies refuse to host ICE and Border Patrol
Los Angeles, CA — UNITE HERE Local 11, representing 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona, has formally notified hotels, stadiums, and other employers that the presence of ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Border Patrol) agents on their property constitute “unusually dangerous conditions” under the parties’ collective bargaining agreements, triggering workers’ contractual right to refuse unsafe work.
In a letter, the Union cited heavily armed federal presence, protests, and a pattern of rapidly escalating violence connected to recent immigration enforcement actions. The Union emphasized that workers must not be placed in volatile situations beyond the scope of their normal duties.
Recent incidents across the country — including fatal shootings involving federal immigration agents — have sparked widespread protests and heightened community tension. On October 14, 2025, the County of Los Angeles proclaimed a local emergency, finding that federal immigration enforcement actions posed extreme peril to county residents’ safety.
“Our members should not be forced into the middle of heavily armed enforcement operations,” said UNITE HERE Co President Kurt Petersen. “Our contracts guarantee a safe workplace, and if hotels and stadiums choose to allow ICE onto their properties, our workers have the right to walk out.”
The Union has asked hotels and other workplaces – including stadiums – to refrain from having ICE or Border Patrol personnel lodge at or use their property to stage their activities during this period of heightened public attention. If hotels, stadiums, or other companies choose to do so, the Union is requesting advance notice and confirmation that workers will be allowed to leave or refuse work without reprisal.
As Los Angeles prepares to host the World Cup this June, the Union warned that the federal government’s promised increase of federal enforcement activity during the mega-event makes safety concerns especially urgent.
“We stood together to protect guests and workers during COVID,” Union leaders said in their letter. “We must do so again to ensure the safety of our workplaces and communities.”
“Workers have seen what ICE agents have done in L.A. over the last year,” Victoria Stahl, a communication organizer with UNITE HERE Local 11, told KTLA. “This demand is to ensure workers are safe, especially with the World Cup coming soon and visitors arriving from around the world. Universal is a major attraction, and workers want protections for themselves and the thousands of guests who visit.”
LA28 has allowed itself to be highjacked by anti-immigrant, anti-worker acolytes of Donal Trump. You cannot support a machine that attacks workers and kidnaps immigrants and pretend to represent Los Angeles. LA28 can run the Trump Olympics but LA28 cannot run the Los Angeles Olympics!
Union members, clergy, and community activists joined outside the LA28 headquarters in DTLA to call for ICE to be out of the Winter Olympics in Milan! Why are ICE agents in Milan? The citizens of Milan definitely don’t want them there. Here in LA the Fair Games Coalition is asking the board of LA28, the organization the City Council subcontracted the LA Olympics and Paralympics Games, to get ICE out of the Winter Olympics and out of the LA Olympics too!
