(Image source from: Crosscut)

American budget hotel chain, Motel 6, will pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit that said several of their properties in Washington state gave their guest lists to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a media report.

Between 2015 and 2017, seven Motel 6 properties in the state shared nearly 80,000 guests’ personal information with ICE without requiring a warrant, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office said in a statement.

The guest lists contained private information of all guests at the hotel, violating their expectation of privacy, CNN reported on Sunday.

The hotel chain’s disclosures “resulted in ICE’s targeted investigation of many guests with Latino-sounding names”, the statement said, adding Motel 6’s actions led to “significant harmful consequences, including the detention and deportation of many guests and the suffering of their families”.

Motel 6 admitted during the AG’s investigation at least six of its Washington state locations shared guests’ information with ICE.

By Sowmya Sangam