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ICE arrested 2 truck drivers heading to a major Meta data center project

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  • ICE arrested two drivers on Wednesday near a Meta construction project in Louisiana, officials said.
  • The individuals were detained during a traffic stop inspection of vehicles heading to the site.
  • “ICE did not enter the Meta site at any time,” the local sheriff’s office said.

Meta’s new mega data center project had a brush with immigration authorities.

The Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana’s Richland Parish, where the massive Hyperion Data Center is under construction, said Wednesday that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained two dump truck drivers traveling to the site during a traffic stop inspection.

“During those stops, two drivers were arrested by ICE due to their immigration status,” the office said. The drivers were from Guatemala and Honduras.

“ICE did not enter the Meta site at any time,” the office said.

In a statement to Business Insider late Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said that ICE did not target a Meta data center in Louisiana.

The DHS spokesperson said that the ICE agents had carried out a “targeted operation” to arrest the truck driver from Honduras, and had encountered another driver from Guatemala. It said both were arrested and are in ICE custody.

Meta declined to comment to Business Insider.

The Meta project is the largest of several multi-gigawatt data centers that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said will come online as the company races to catch up on AI computing capacity.

Wednesday’s arrests crystallize an issue that companies have increasingly had to grapple with over the past year: how to prepare workers for an ICE encounter, whether on or off company property.

The action also follows a recent surge of ICE activity in cities and towns across the US, which has met some resistance in Democratic-led states.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has been a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. The state is receiving nearly $1 million a month to house detainees at its Angola prison, Axios reported, citing public records.

January 15, 11.25 p.m. E.T. — This story was updated to include comments from a DHS spokesperson.




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Hilton called out by DHS after the department said ICE agents’ reservations were canceled at an independently owned Hampton Inn

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The Department of Homeland Security singled out Hilton on X, saying a hotel in Minnesota canceled reservations belonging to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

According to a screenshot shared by DHS on Tuesday, a Hampton Inn in Lakeville, south of Minneapolis, said it was “not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property.”

“If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation,” the screenshot said.

Hilton said it doesn’t own or operate the hotel.

“This hotel is independently owned and operated, and these actions were not reflective of Hilton values,” Hilton said in a statement to Business Insider. “We have been in direct contact with the hotel, and they have apologized for the actions of their team, which was not in keeping with their policies. They have taken immediate action to resolve this matter and are contacting impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated.”

“Hilton’s position is clear: Our properties are open to everyone and we do not tolerate any form of discrimination,” the statement said.

Everpeak Hospitality, the owner of the hotel, said in a statement Tuesday that the incident was “inconsistent with our policy of being a welcoming place for all.”

“We are in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated,” the statement said. “We do not discriminate against any individuals or agencies and apologize to those impacted.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

Who owns Hilton-branded hotels?

Hilton is a publicly traded company owned by its shareholders.

Hilton’s largest known shareholders are The Vanguard Group and BlackRock, which respectively own 10.6% and 8.5% of its common stock, according to the company’s 2025 proxy statement.

Hilton, like other global hotel chains, does not own most Hilton-branded hotels.

Instead, most of its hotels are franchised, in which case they are owned and operated independently, or they are owned by a third party and operated by Hilton.




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