Update 9/14/17: Motel 6 claims to have now discontinued the program of sending guest data to ICE.  However, we still don’t know:

• What was the exact nature of the arrangement between Motel 6 and ICE Agents?
• Will they still hand over data when specifically requested without a warrant?
• Will they still be sharing data with other law enforcement agencies for the purposes or warrant sweeps or any other reason?
• What is the corporate policy regarding the privacy of guest data and law enforcement?

Update: 9/13/17: A Motel 6 in Arizona has been sending its guest registration data to ICE to facilitate immigration arrests.

“We send a report every morning to ICE — all the names of everybody that comes in,” one front-desk clerk explained. “Every morning at about 5 o’clock, we do the audit and we push a button and it sends it to ICE.”

It appears that Motel 6 management doesn’t just comply with specific law enforcement requests, but proactively sends data to be matched with law enforcement databases, be it for immigration status, warrants, or other reasons. If it is so simple that it is a one button push, does that suggest that this procedure is built into to their corporate guest services software?

If it is so simple that it is a one button push, does that suggest that this procedure is built into to their corporate guest services software? Motel 6 is owned by the Blackstone Group, whose chairman and CEO is Stephen Schwarzman, a strong supporter of President Trump.

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Is the Motel 6 in Tewksbury turning over daily guest register information to the Tewksbury Police, without informing their paid guests?

Almost certainly this is the case. Troubling data from anecdotal reports as well as patterns from the Tewksbury police log suggests daily police sweeps resulting in frequent warrants served and warrant arrests at this location. [Read more…]