Dozens of protesters arrested at hotel in Manhattan during sit-in over immigration crackdown

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NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of protesters were arrested Tuesday after they occupied the lobby of a Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan, accusing the hotel of housing federal immigration officers.

A person who answered the phone at the hotel declined to comment. An email to Hilton's press office was not returned Tuesday night. It was not immediately clear if immigration officers were staying at the hotel, and Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that information would not be disclosed.

The protest came as President Donald Trump’s administration has been carrying out a massive immigration operation that has spurred widespread opposition and led to two deaths in Minneapolis this month. Hotel chains such as Hilton have sometimes struggled to navigate the conflict during the immigration crackdown and responding protests.

Protesters packed into the small lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday, wearing shirts that read “Hilton houses ICE” and calling for the hotel to stop federal immigration officers from staying there.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said its officers ordered the crowd to leave before eventually arresting the protesters who remained in the lobby. The police spokesperson said it was not immediately clear how many people were arrested, though a photographer with The Associated Press witnessed dozens of people being detained and loaded into buses outside the hotel.