No Sleep for ICE: Protests Outside Hotels Targeting ICE Agents Spread Across U.S.

A protest tactic aimed at disrupting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations has expanded from a West Coast start to hotels across the country, with activists staging loud demonstrations outside properties that house federal agents. The movement, dubbed “No Sleep for ICE” by organizers, began in California this summer and has grown into a nationwide effort designed to keep ICE personnel awake and slow their rounds, according to organizers and multiple observers.

In Edina, Minnesota, a nighttime protest outside the Homewood Suites by Hilton drew about 150 people on the evening of December 11. The demonstrators circled the hotel, chanted, and created sustained noise intended to prevent agents from resting. A smaller crowd gathered the following night. Organizers say the goal is twofold: to pressure hotels not to host ICE employees and to hinder agents’ ability to operate efficiently. Megan Newcomb, one of the organizers in Minneapolis, told TIME that the group verifies information through multiple sources before targeting a hotel, adding that the protests have already prompted ICE to adjust travel patterns. "Without sharing our methods, I want to be clear that we make sure we are 100% confident in this, using multiple sources of information, before we target a hotel," she said. "We slow them down through these changes or by having them change hotels—time they aren’t out kidnapping our loved ones."

Newcomb stresses that the discomfort caused to hotel guests is part of the message, noting that the protests are meant to spotlight immigrant communities and drag the issue into public view. She contends the demonstrations began as a reaction to ICE operations in California in June, targeting hotels in Burbank, Montebello, Pasadena, Whittier, Glendale, Arcadia, Downey, Long Beach, and Hacienda Heights. Sophia Aguilar, a 24-year-old resident of Northeast Los Angeles, has participated since the Los Angeles arrival this summer and described leading chants and marches outside a Westin Pasadena in mid-June. She said the action felt meaningful because agents could hear the protests and that banging pots and pans gave protesters a sense of release from the frustration over what they see as injustices faced by immigrant families.

The No Sleep demonstrations, which typically lasted from around 9 or 10 p.m. into the early hours, have since spread to other regions as part of a broader response to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. In Chicago’s suburbs, for example, activists began targeting hotels where they believed federal agents were staying by early September. In Downers Grove, a few hundred demonstrators gathered outside a hotel after noticing Department of Homeland Security vehicles, with smaller protests continuing outside a nearby Hampton Inn and at an ICE processing center in Broadview. By late September, Chicago-area protests had entered a broader wave linked to Operation Midway Blitz, a federal enforcement push that has intensified since the summer.

Protests have continued into the fall and winter, with demonstrations in Medford, Massachusetts, outside a Hyatt Place on September 23 and nearby actions linked to a broader concern about detentions of Latin American immigrants. Participants in the Massachusetts action included union members, immigrant-rights organizers, local residents, families, and students, all expressing solidarity with immigrant communities and urging hotels not to cooperate with federal enforcement.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, the movement drew a large turnout on November 19, when demonstrators swarmed the Hilton Charlotte University Place after residents reported seeing U.S. Border Patrol agents entering and leaving the hotel amid a broader federal sweep that organizers said had led to hundreds of arrests. The hotel’s ownership is local and independent, with the management declining to comment beyond confirming the event. Supporters said the action aimed to show solidarity with immigrant families and to pressure hotels not to house federal agents involved in immigration enforcement.

Across the country, the protests have touched a wide cross-section of participants, including labor unions, faith groups, students, and local residents, all voicing concern for immigrant families and seeking to highlight what they describe as the human costs of intensified enforcement. In some cases, the demonstrations have drawn attention to the fact that the protests can disrupt hotel guests and ordinary travelers, a point Newcomb acknowledged but framed as a necessary consequence of a national policy the organizers oppose.

Legal consequences from the protests have been modest so far. In Long Beach, California, two women were arrested during a hotel demonstration outside a Holiday Inn where ICE agents were believed to be staying. They were charged with violating local noise ordinances, but officials later declined to pursue the case because investigators could not determine who was responsible for the noise. The city prosecutor’s office said it would not pursue charges after an extended review. The incident illustrates the general pattern cited by activists and law enforcement: arrests have been rare, and when they occur, prosecutors have often declined to move forward.

The Trump administration has framed the broader immigration crackdown as a matter of restoring law and order. While President Donald Trump has not commented specifically on the hotel protests, he has defended the ongoing sweeps and described sanctuary policies as inadequate. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to TIME’s request for comment on the hotel protests. In LA, federal officials circulated internal guidance advising personnel to avoid certain hotels after reports of harassment of ICE and Border Patrol agents, suggesting that protests could interfere with enforcement operations. Officials have stressed that enforcement policies would continue, while they have warned that protests that cross legal lines could prompt law enforcement responses.

The protests have also prompted local and federal authorities to monitor the impact on operations. In Edina and Los Angeles, organizers say the disruptions have forced ICE to adjust travel routes and schedules, complicating the logistics of arrests and removals. In Waldport, Oregon, city officials reported on December 10 that ICE had contacted the Alsi Resort to inquire about renting rooms, raising fears that the agency could be seeking lodging tied to a detention facility elsewhere in Lincoln County. City leaders heard concerns from residents about the potential spillover effects on local businesses and public safety, reflecting a broader national debate about the balance between civil liberties and federal enforcement.

The ongoing demonstrations reflect a broader clash within U.S. politics over immigration policy and the role of private businesses in federal enforcement efforts. Supporters argue that visible, sustained protests are a legitimate way to pressure institutions to align with community values and to push back against policies they view as harsh or unjust. Critics say that protests outside hotels can disrupt the experiences of travelers and guests who have no involvement in policy debates, and they warn that such actions could complicate law enforcement operations or chill commerce in local neighborhoods.

As the winter months proceed, organizers say they intend to sustain the campaign, while officials say they will enforce the law and continue to monitor for any actions that cross legal boundaries. The clash between protest and policy underscores a broader dynamic in U.S. politics: strategies to influence immigration enforcement depend as much on public sentiment and private sector responses as on courtroom battles and legislative votes. The No Sleep for ICE movement has, at least for now, established a recognizable footprint in the national conversation over how to balance national security concerns with the rights and dignity of immigrant communities.