MALDEF SUES MOTEL 6 FOR VIOLATING RIGHTS OF LATINO GUESTS IN ARIZONA
January 23, 2018
(Phoenix, AZ) - Motel 6 violated the civil rights of Latino immigrants and other
guests by alerting federal authorities that they had rented rooms at two Phoenix
locations, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the name of eight plaintiffs
affected by the motel practice.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona by MALDEF
(Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), says the hotel’s
practice of voluntarily giving Latino guests’ personal information to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents without a warrant violates
federal and state civil rights laws barring discrimination based on national origin,
and protections against unreasonable searches. The lawsuit also alleges that the
motel violated state consumer fraud protections.
“It is in no company’s interests to target and to violate the rights of any of its
customers,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. “If
business incentives prove insufficient to deter poor practices, there are also
powerful legal consequences for engaging in the kind of anti-consumer activity
alleged here.”
All eight Latino plaintiffs were detained, and in one case deported, after presenting
official identification while checking in to two Phoenix-area hotels.
In one case, a mother of four U.S.-born children, ages 2 to 11, took refuge with her
family at the Motel 6 Black Canyon in June 2017 to escape the blistering Arizona
heat in their apartment, which lacks air conditioning. During check-in, she
presented an official Mexican document known as a matricular consular for
identification. Before dawn on the following morning, they were awakened by a
loud banging on their motel room door by men who identified themselves as
“police.” They were, in fact, not police, but ICE agents. The agents threatened to
separate the mother from her children but ultimately instructed her to report to ICE
within days. She was subsequently placed in deportation proceedings.
In another case, a couple who were having repairs done on their Phoenix home
checked into the Motel 6 Phoenix West in July 2017. The man presented his
Mexican passport for identification. The next morning they were confronted by
three ICE agents who entered their motel room and questioned the couple, who
were then fingerprinted and placed in handcuffs. They were taken to the ICE
Phoenix Field Office, where they were separated, fingerprinted, and photographed.
The man was placed in deportation proceedings and released on bond. The woman
was deported the next day and remains in Mexico.
“This lawsuit should serve as a warning to companies that attempt to enforce
immigration laws by conspiring with the federal government to violate the civil
rights of their guests,” said Andres Gallegos, staff attorney at MALDEF. “Our
clients now face being separated from their families simply because they rented a
hotel room.”
Earlier this month, Washington State officials sued the hotel chain alleging the
company violated state consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws.
MALDEF is suing the hotel’s parent company, G6 Hospitality LLC, which owns
and operates the two hotels, and is seeking class certification on behalf of all
immigrants who stayed at Motel 6 locations in Arizona.
The legal claims include violations of:
- Federal law barring discrimination on the basis of national origin and alienage.
- Federal law prohibiting conspiracy to deprive an individual of equal protection under the law.
- Federal law prohibiting conspiracy to violate Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
- Arizona law prohibiting intrusion of privacy.
- Arizona law prohibiting breach of contract.
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Read the lawsuit here and summaries of several of the plaintiffs’ cases here.
Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the "Latino Legal Voice for Civil Rights in America" MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.
Copyright 2009 MALDEF — Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund