Motel 6 Employees Are Turning Undocumented Immigrants Into ICE

In the first eight months of 2017, at least 20 undocumented immigrants were arrested at two Motel 6 locations in Arizona after employees shared information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The paper Phoenix Times News uncovered the practice through daily tips from hotel employees, the paper confirmed they had ICE agents showing up at two hotels about once every two weeks.

Employees stated that: “We send a report every morning to ICE, all the names of everybody that comes in,” a front-desk clerk told the paper. “Every morning at about 5 o’clock, we do the audit and we push a button and it sends it to ICE.”

The Motel 6 budget chain is commonly associated with its longtime slogan of hospitality: “We’ll leave the light on.” But for immigration attorneys in the Phoenix area, the motel chain has become the site of a troubling string of immigration arrests (photo: John J. Watkins/Associated Press).

It was also reported that José Rentería Alvarado faces deportation after federal authorities detained him while he was staying at a Motel 6 in June. His attorney, Robert McWhirter, says he believes the motel shared its guest list with the agents.

The attorney pointed out: “I imagine what went on here is they probably took a look at the names on the guest registry and compared that to a database of people that have been deported.”

Immigration agents arrested at least 20 people at two Motel 6 locations between February and August, with agents showing up directly at people’s doors and taking them into custody. The actual number is likely to be even higher because several court documents contained ambiguous information about arrest locations.

Aside from the situation in Phoenix, Motel 6 has been enthusiastic about cooperating with law enforcement before, elsewhere in the country. They have been criticized by the ACLU for sharing guest lists with local police (photo: The Independent).

The two Motel 6 locations are in predominantly Latino neighborhoods, not far from Mexican bakeries and restaurants. Both locations are corporate-owned, neither are franchises.

Phoenix Police department spokesman Jonathan Howard confirmed that “on occasion and through informal contacts,” a number of hotels and motels have shared guest lists with law enforcement officers.

After coming under fire from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others, Motel 6 appeared to confirm the Phoenix location was sharing information with authorities, saying the policy was “implemented at the local level without the knowledge of senior management.”

After being criticized for releasing such a vague statement, the motel chain later issued a much more detailed one:

Immigration activists proposed boycotts of Motel 6 until the company changed its policy. Representatives from Arizona and Washington wrote a letter to ICE condemning the practise, and asking for more information on the people detained as a result.

Representatives Ruben Gallego and Pramila Jayapal wrote: “This clearly demonstrates a preference on the part of ICE’s leadership in Arizona for convenience and efficiency at the expense of due process.” They added that the practise raises “alarming questions” about ICE’s “willingness to engage in racial profiling” by identifying suspects based off the guest list.