Back in 2015, Motel 6 outraged civil libertarians when it became known a Rhode Island franchise was routinely providing police with a daily guest list, despite the absence of any warrant or suspicion of guests. After the media reported on this, the motel stopped the practice – well, sort of. The Providence Journal reported:
The police maintain the privilege, on an ad hoc basis, of inspecting the guest list when they visit the motel daily.
I’ve never stayed at a Motel 6 since then, in protest of their disrespect for privacy and civil liberties.
Now Joe Cadillic sends along a news item indicating that Motel 6 is back in the news because franchises are giving ICE daily guest lists. Zack Ford of ThinkProgress reports:
Two Motel 6 locations in the Phoenix area are reportedly sending guest lists to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on a daily basis. According to a report by the Phoenix New Times, this has resulted in at least 20 arrests at the two locations between February and August of this year.
If you are not okay with businesses turning customer names over to federal agencies without any warrant or even reasonable suspicion, then do what I do: take your business elsewhere and let them know why.
Update: Motel 6 tweeted the following:
Statement Regarding Recent Media Reports on Phoenix-area Location pic.twitter.com/MPxaspNA6b
— Motel 6 (@motel6) September 14, 2017
“This was implemented at the local level without the knowledge of senior management. When we became aware of it last week, it was discontinued.”
Commenters on Twitter did not find that statement satisfactory.