New York, New York - NYPD officers were forced on Tuesday to arrest more than 70 New Yorkers who had occupied a Hilton hotel where they believed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were staying.

At approximately 6 PM on Tuesday, more than 100 anti-ICE protesters stormed the lobby of a Hilton Garden Inn on Sixth Avenue near Canal Street, where they chanted slogans and waved signs.

Over a two-hour period, the crowd staged a peaceful sit-in in the hotel. After refusing to leave, however, the NYPD was called and forced to break up the gathering.

The police operation saw at least 70 activists arrested and detained by law enforcement.

The protesters believed that the Tribeca hotel was housing ICE agents who had entered New York City temporarily with the purpose of aggressively, and often violently, rounding up and detaining migrants.

It's unclear whether the Manhattan hotel was indeed providing accommodation to ICE agents at the time.

Earlier in January, a Hampton Inn hotel outside Minneapolis, also owned by Hilton, refused to house ICE officers who had come to Minnesota to take part in President Donald Trump's ongoing crackdown.

In response, Hilton Worldwide Holdings removed the hotel from its systems and issued a statement that their hotels are "a welcoming place for all."

The incident has triggered a wave of protests against Hilton hotels for providing ICE agents with accommodation.

Responding to the events on Tuesday, a spokesperson for New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised the activists for peacefully exercising their rights, as well as the police for their handling of the situation.

"ICE is a rogue agency that has repeatedly carried out cruel, inhumane, and lawless raids and arrests of American citizens," the spokesperson told the New York Times.