Motel 6 is being forced to shell out millions of dollars for the second time in five months after it provided guest lists to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
NPR reported Friday that the budget hotel chain will settle a lawsuit with the state of Washington for $12 million. From 2015-2017, Motel 6 handed guest lists over to ICE, which included about 80,000 people.
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement, "Motel 6's actions tore families apart and violated the privacy rights of tens of thousands of Washingtonians. Our resolution holds Motel 6 accountable for illegally handing over guests' private information without a warrant."
Ferguson said the guest list data resulted in ICE investigating guests based on names that sounded Hispanic. Those investigations, he said, led to an unknown number of deportations.
Motel 6 told NPR that it will keep guest list data private except when it is presented with a warrant.
In November, Motel 6 settled with seven Hispanics in Arizona and one in Washington for $7.6 million after the practice of sharing guest lists with ICE was reported in the media. That lawsuit was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
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