Motel 6 will pay $ 12M to settle the dispute after sharing the guest information with ICE, according to a manager

The Motel 6 has agreed to pay $ 12 million to settle a lawsuit accusing several Washington state offices of sharing personal information with US immigration officers.

The limited budget motel operator has illegally shared the personal information of about 80,000 customers for more than two years, thus giving rise to a "targeted" investigation of customers with names at the same time. Latino look, announced Thursday the Washington State Attorney General's Office.

The bureau said that operators at seven Washington sites had voluntarily shared their guest lists with ICE agents between February 2015 and September 2017, without requiring a warrant.

"Whenever Motel 6 published a guest list, this included the confidential information of each guest of the hotel without their knowledge or consent, thus violating their privacy expectations." said Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office in a statement. "The disclosure of information by guests of Motel 6 has had significant adverse consequences, including the detention and expulsion of many guests and the suffering of their families."

The unlawful revelations resulted in "a focused investigation by ICE on many guests bearing Latin-sounding names" and resulted in the separation of some of their families, according to the Attorney General's office.

Some guests were approached by ICE agents and detained at Motel 6 establishments, while others were arrested a few days after their stay at the hotel, according to the office.

A man was arrested in Seattle, where he stayed to wrap Christmas gifts for his four children, officials said.

"ICE agents approached him in the hotel parking lot, arrested him and deported him a few days later, and his wife had to pick up the gifts and other belongings from Motel 6 after her arrival. arrest, "said the attorney general's office. "The man was the only household provider and his wife is currently struggling to support her child and her four other children."

Motel 6, which has more than 1,400 US sites, admitted that at least six of its corporate sites had shared personal information about customers with ICE, according to the office. Investigators later discovered that a seventh site shared guest lists with ICE.

Personal information disclosed included customer names, driver's license numbers, passport / green card / other ID numbers, room numbers, guest ID numbers, birth dates, and license plate numbers. d & # 39; registration.

Motel 6 and its parent company, G6 Hospitality, acknowledged the settlement in a statement to ABC News late Sunday.

"The safety of our customers, including the protection of their information, is our top priority, and we are delighted to be able to find a solution to this problem," said a spokesman for the company. "As part of this agreement, Motel 6 will continue to enforce its privacy policy, which prohibits the sharing of customer information except in cases where a warrant or binding subpoena is present, or where required by local law. "

The company said it has put in place a system to ensure company oversight and compliance in cases where law enforcement requests are made.

ABC Don & Christopher Donato contributed to this report.