Motel 6 agreed to pay almost $20 million to tens of thousands of former guests whose “Latino-sounding names” were disclosed to federal agents targeting undocumented residents for deportation.
The question is whether anyone will be able to find the former lodgers.
In a pair of lawsuits filed last year, Motel 6 was accused — first by the state of Washington and then by a group of onetime guests in Arizona — of violating state and federal privacy statutes and discrimination and false imprisonment laws. Both cases are on the cusp of settlements that would pay former customers $50 to $100,000 each.
At least one judge is concerned that some of the hotel’s patrons-turned-targets either can’t or don’t want to be found, complicating efforts to compensate them, according to court filings.
“I’ve got John Doe names, but I don’t know who these people are,” U.S. District Judge David Campbell in Phoenix said on Jan. 29 during a settlement hearing in which he questioned Motel 6 and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund on how they planned to enforce the agreement.
“I don’t even know if they’re still in the U.S. Are they in the removal process? If so, do we know where they’re located? How do we get money to them? I don’t know how effective this method will be in compensating them,” Campbell said.
Motel 6 and MALDEF responded to the judge’s concerns by re-opening the settlement, with plans to modify their agreement, according to Thomas Saenz, an attorney for the former Arizona guests in their nationwide class action.
Among the judge’s questions: Who gets the money if the plaintiffs can’t be located and why are objections to the settlement going to a third-party administrator rather than the court?
Both sides have until May 31 to respond.
Meantime, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Motel 6 will pay former guests in the state a total of $12 million, minus $750,000 in attorneys’ fees. Parties have one year to find 80,000 of the chain’s former customers in the state to evaluate their claims, determine compensation and make payment, according to a consent decree.
The state acknowledges it doesn’t yet have a complete picture of the people affected by Motel 6’s cooperation with ICE, including who and where they are. Washington has posted claim forms on its website that it hopes former guests will use to identify themselves, Ferguson said. The state is also counting on its public settlement acting as a deterrent to other companies contemplating collaborating with ICE agents.
Local Angle
The family of a Vancouver man, who was deported after staying at an Everett Motel 6 in February 2017, plans to file a claim for a portion of the $12 million settlement reached between the motel chain and state Attorney General’s Office.
Vancouver’s Ramon Flores-Garcia — a Mexican citizen who had been living without documentation in the United States for about 20 years — was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while working in Everett on Valentine’s Day 2017. He was deported that August to Puerto Vallarta, leaving behind his wife and seven children, all of whom are legal U.S. residents.
Flores, then 43, was staying at one of the two Motel 6 locations in Everett at the time. His family previously told The Columbian that ICE agents stopped him a few blocks away from the motel.
His family has not confirmed if Ramon Flores was detained as a result of Motel 6’s practices but said they strongly suspect it.
They learned of the attorney general’s office’s lawsuit against Motel 6 and the settlement through The Columbian.
Ramon Flores’ daughter Leslie Flores said earlier this month that their family will be filing a claim. They hope to use any money they receive to put toward permanent housing. The Flores family lost their housing in Vancouver as a result of Ramon Flores’ deportation. They moved to the San Diego area, so they can be closer to him, but have essentially been homeless for the last five months, Leslie Flores said.
The family was told that Ramon Flores has been banned from entering the U.S. for the next 10 years, she said.
