Two Democrats are demanding that immigration officials turn over information about their reported practice of getting lists of guests staying at Motel 6 in Arizona, and using those lists to conduct enforcement actions on those motels.
Reps. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a leader in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Thomas Homan, asking about ICE agents “obtaining the names and room numbers of guests,” at two Motel 6 hotels in the Phoenix area.
The lawmakers called the tactic an “indiscriminate dragnet” that could hurt tourism and subsequently lead to the loss of jobs and revenue.
“This tactic raises a number of grave concerns,” they wrote. “It obviously has the potential to deter tourism to the State of Arizona, potentially leading to the loss of jobs and revenue.”
“More importantly, instead of targeting their limited resources at individuals who pose a genuine threat to public safety, it appears that agents in Arizona have been operating an indiscriminant dragnet, reportedly aided by hotel managers.”
According to the Phoenix New Times, Motel 6 employees “said it was standard practice to share guest information with ICE,” but the practice has not been confirmed by ICE officials.
Gallego and Jayapal want ICE to respond to the report, and explain how many people have been arrested at the two hotels and whether federal ICE officials endorsed the practice of combing hotel guest lists for illegal immigrants.
“We urge you in the strongest possible terms to formally prohibit the random screening of hotel guests for the purpose of identifying suspected undocumented immigrants and to provide a clearer picture of precisely how and why this misguided tactic was employed,” the Democrats wrote to Homan.
