Hospitality Union Tells Pasadena Hotels: Bar ICE Agents or Workers Can Walk Off the Job

The union representing hospitality workers at four Pasadena hotels that housed federal immigration agents last summer has told more than 200 Southern California and Arizona employers that their workers can leave or refuse to report to work if ICE or Border Patrol agents are present at or near the property.

Unite Here Local 11 sent the letter Monday to hotels, stadiums and airport vendors, citing contract provisions the union said define the presence of federal immigration agents as “unusually dangerous conditions” that trigger employees’ right to refuse to work, according to media reports. The contracts also prohibit employers from allowing immigration agents onto their properties without a warrant, the union’s letter said.

The demand carries particular weight in Pasadena. Last summer, four city hotels — the Dena Hotel Pasadena, Hilton Pasadena, AC Hotel Pasadena and the Westin Hotel Pasadena — housed ICE officials and became the targets of protests.

The city is looking ahead host five 2028 Olympic soccer matches at the Rose Bowl, including men’s and women’s semifinals and both gold medal matches, according to LA28. The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, built with funds from the 1984 Olympics, will host Olympic diving after the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the venue relocation in September, according to a joint statement from LA28 and the City of Pasadena.

“We want to be clear,” the union’s letter said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “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.”