Motel 6 is facing another lawsuit, which alleges that it violated the civil rights of Latino immigrants by voluntarily giving the personal information of guests to federal immigration authorities. The lawsuit was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) on behalf of the guests in federal court in Arizona. The lawsuit claims that the Motel 6 employees gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents personal information about hotel guests this past summer, which violates federal and state laws barring discrimination based on national origin and protecting against unreasonable searches. Washington state officials also filed a lawsuit in early January alleging that the motel chain violated state consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws by employees in six Motel 6 locations. Motel 6 released the following statement in late January regarding the lawsuit in Arizona that was identical to the one it issued in early January:
In September, Motel 6 issued a directive to every one of our more than 1,400 locations, making it clear that they are prohibited from voluntarily providing daily guests lists to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While we cannot comment on specific pending litigation, we take this issue and the privacy of our guests very seriously.
In Washington the case, about six people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally were detained. In the Arizona case, the MALDEF identified eight Latino plaintiffs who were detained including one who was deported. ICE is not named as defendant in the lawsuit and did not comment on the cases. We will have to wait and see what the results of the lawsuits are and what they reveal.
