By WIBayNews Staff
St. Paul, Minn. — Multiple downtown St. Paul hotels abruptly canceled reservations and temporarily closed this week after citing “heightened public safety concerns,” according to reporting shared by Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin and confirmed through hotel booking systems.
ICE agents with rooms booked at the DoubleTree by Hilton St. Paul Downtown were notified that their reservations had been canceled as the property shut down operations, redirecting guests to other hotels. A similar move reportedly occurred at the InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront, where agents were also informed the hotel would be closing temporarily due to ongoing unrest in the area.
Threats Cited in Cancellations
According to Melugin’s reporting, at least one ICE agent spoke with a front desk manager who said the closures were intended to protect hotel staff after they had received threats from unknown individuals related to lodging federal DHS personnel. Images of a cancellation letter circulated online show the hotels explicitly referencing safety risks as the reason for shutting down.
Independent checks of hotel websites showed that both properties stopped accepting new reservations at the time of the notices.
A Broader Climate of Escalation
The hotel closures come amid a period of heightened tension in Minnesota surrounding immigration enforcement. Demonstrations, confrontations, and rhetoric directed at federal agencies have intensified, raising concerns about spillover effects on private businesses and workers who are not directly involved in enforcement decisions.
Critics argue the situation highlights how political pressure campaigns and threats can disrupt routine operations and create safety risks for civilians. Supporters of aggressive protest tactics counter that such disruptions are necessary to oppose federal immigration policy.
Private Businesses Caught in the Middle
For hotel staff and nearby businesses, the episode underscores a growing dilemma: balancing safety with neutrality in politically charged environments. While the closures were described as temporary, the message to employees and guests was clear—local tensions have reached a point where normal operations are no longer guaranteed.
Local officials have not yet publicly addressed the hotel closures, and ICE has not issued a formal statement regarding the canceled bookings.
As Minnesota continues to navigate contentious immigration debates, the sudden shutdown of major downtown hotels serves as a visible sign that political conflict is increasingly spilling into everyday civic and commercial life.
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