Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Huffington Post reports:
Employees at Motel 6 locations in Phoenix have ceased working with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents in light of a new report that revealed motel staffers were reporting guests who appear to be undocumented immigrants, according to a spokeswoman for the motel chain.
Raiza Rehkoff, the director of public relations and marketing for the motel chain’s parent company, G6 Hospitality, told HuffPost that staff members were working with ICE without the approval of senior management, but it ended last week when management found out.
ICE agents have arrested at least 20 people who were staying at two Motel 6 locations in Phoenix, according to an investigative report published Wednesday by the Phoenix New Times. Employees at both motels told the weekly newspaper that they were sharing customers’ personal information with ICE on a regular basis.
“We send a report every morning to ICE — all the names of everybody that comes in,” an unidentified front-desk clerk explained to the New Times. “Every morning at about 5 o’clock, we do the audit and we push a button and it sends it to ICE.”
From the Phoenix New Times report:
Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for ICE’s Phoenix division, declined to comment on whether the agency is in the habit of reviewing hotel guest lists, or investigating tips sent in by Motel 6 employees. “I wouldn’t be able to confirm how we are getting our information. Those are investigative techniques that we wouldn’t be able to talk about,” she said.
“If hypothetically we were somewhere — if we did administratively arrest some folks — that happens all the time. We conduct targeted enforcement operations every day.”
Naturally, rumors run rampant. Denise Aguilar, a Chandler-based immigration attorney, said that one of her clients is currently being held in ICE custody alongside several others who were detained at the same Motel 6. “They have heard (no telling how valid the info is) that ICE is paying $200 per person for the front-desk clerk to report,” she wrote in an email.
Both Motel 6 locations are corporate-owned.