August 28, 2025
Mr. Anthony Capuano, President and CEO
Marriott International, Inc.
7750 Wisconsin Ave.
Bethesda, MD 20814
Marriott ICE Melt Coalition
PO Box 341
Cortaro, AZ 85652-0341
Dear Mr. Capuano,
In 2019 Marriott International made this statement, which won your company plaudits for its principled stand, especially given the importance of immigrants to the hotel industry:
“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 US 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.” (Source: ABC News)
We now know that one of your properties located on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana has been used to hold ICE detainees. (Sources: The Guardian, The Intercept). This reporting corroborates the account of a source with knowledge of hotel operations in Alexandria, who told The Guardian that they believed the venue had been used to detain immigrant families and unaccompanied children since it was renovated in late 2023. The source observed ICE contractors known to assist in the transfer of unaccompanied minors operating at the Sheraton as recently as June of this year.
Two days after The Guardian reported this story, Marriott issued this statement, confirming that one of the properties owned by Marriott, a Sheraton hotel in Alexandria, had in fact been used to house detainees:
“Our hotels provide public accommodation and event space, but are not designed or intended to serve as detention centers. Acceptance of business does not indicate support or endorsement of any group or individual. The property you have reached out about is operated by a third party, not Marriott International.”
Additionally, according to Marriott franchise documents, the company “seeks to do business with franchisees that share our values. Our franchisees are an integral part of our business and play a vital role in upholding the reputation of Marriott’s brands for excellence,” the documents state.
To put all this more simply, Mr. Capuano, Marriott has broken its promise. Regardless of the hotel being “Sheraton-branded,” Marriott owns it, and is therefore responsible for Sheraton’s failure to comply with its “values” and its promise not to allow your hotels to serve as ICE detention facilities. To change your tune six years later with a tepid statement disavowing responsibility and blaming a “third party” isn’t going to pass muster.
Accordingly, the Marriott ICE Melt Coalition, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, demands the following actions by Marriott:
Renew your 2019 promise to “decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities.”
Require all hotels and properties owned by Marriott to honor this commitment, regardless of how those properties are branded or who operates them.
Make a public statement renewing these commitments. Post that statement on your website and the websites of all U.S. properties owned by Marriott, issue the statement to national media, especially The Guardian and The Intercept, and mail a copy to our PO box.
Complete these actions by September 5, 2025.
Meeting these demands will resolve our specific concerns, and we will very much appreciate Marriott’s prompt action. Failure to meet the demands, however, will cause our Coalition to immediately begin a local boycott of all hotels and dining and drinking establishments owned by Marriott, regardless of the brand. We expect this campaign to spread nationally, much like the Tesla Takedown protests, which also began in Tucson, and the Target boycott, both of which caused economic harm to the companies. We will use a wide variety of tactics to make the public aware of Marriott’s broken promise and its collaboration with ICE. These will include picketing, press releases and conferences, use of social media, and other creative, nonviolent, disruptive but legal tactics (for now), to bring public and financial pressure to bear on Marriott International until it meets our reasonable demand: renew your 2019 promise to refuse to collaborate with ICE.
We hope you’ll act quickly to protect Marriott’s reputation and revenues, which will allow those of us who are members of the Civil Resistance to focus on other targets.
With respect for Marriott workers, and in solidarity with victims of persecution by ICE,
Marriott ICE Melt Coalition
Cc: All Marriott-owned properties in Tucson; local and national news media; local and national activist organizations
