The light is always on.
On a hot Wednesday in June, Manuel Rodriguez-Juarez, a 33-year-old landscaper, got into an argument with his live-in girlfriend.
While he waited for her to cool down, he decided to check into a $45-a-night room at a nearby Motel 6 on Maryvale’s southern fringe, where fast-food restaurants and gas stations catering to travelers passing through on Interstate 10 sit alongside neighborhood panaderias and marisquerias.
The front-desk clerk told him that he needed to show identification in order to reserve a room. Rodriguez-Juarez handed over the only thing he had — a Mexican voter ID card.
Six hours later, he was lying on the bed, watching TV, when he heard a knock at the door.
He opened it. Three agents from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement were waiting for him.
When asked, Rodriguez-Juarez admitted that he wasn’t authorized to be in the United States. He’s currently being held at the immigration detention center in Florence while his lawyer, Juan Rocha, tries to get him asylum.
While the case is pending, Rocha is trying to figure out something that’s been bothering him: Did someone at Motel 6 tip off ICE?
There’s certainly reason to think so.
A Phoenix New Times review of court records found that between February and August, ICE agents made at least 20 arrests at Motel 6s, showing up roughly every two weeks. (Since many of the documents we reviewed contained only vague details about where ICE encountered an individual, the actual number is likely even higher.)
All took place at one of two Motel 6 locations: 4130 North Black Canyon Highway or 1530 North 52nd Drive. Both are in predominantly Latino neighborhoods. New Times was unable to find records indicating that ICE conducted arrests at other local motels during this same time period.