A report from the Phoenix New Times, published Wednesday, revealed that multiple Motel 6 locations in the Phoenix area had voluntarily given the names of guests—exclusively foreign nationals without American ID cards—to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers. It spread quickly across the Internet, prompting a #BoycottMotel6 hashtag on Twitter and spurring outrage from the American Civil Liberties Union.
Now, a spokesperson from Motel 6’s corporate headquarters tells Pacific Standard that the company will issue a directive to its 1,400 locations prohibiting employees from voluntarily sending guest information to ICE.
“To help ensure that our broader engagement with law enforcement is done in a manner that is respectful of our guests’ rights, we will be undertaking a comprehensive review of our current practices and then issue updated, company-wide guidelines,” Motel 6 spokeswoman Raiza Rehkoff told Pacific Standard in an email. “Protecting the privacy and security of our guests are core values of our company. Motel 6 apologizes for this incident and will continue to work to earn the trust and patronage of our millions of loyal guests.”
The motel chain issued an apology Wednesday, and argued that the exchange of information occurred “at the local level, without the knowledge of senior management.”
