Thread: MCSO arrests hotel manager after August raid

MCSO arrests hotel manager after August raid

Posted: 09/29/2011
Last Updated: 1 hour and 39 minutes ago
By: ABC15.com staff

PHOENIX - A Phoenix hotel manager was arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies Thursday on suspicion of violating employer sanction laws.

Deputies arrested Jorge Molinar, who manages the Days Inn at 502 W. Camelback Road, over a month after a raid at the Phoenix hotel.

MCSO raided the Days Inn on August 24, after a two-month investigation determined that 10 of the 18 workers at the hotel were “using false information to gain employment.â€

Arizona immigration controversy hits hotel world
By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAYUpdated 1d 13h ago Comments 87

The Arizona immigration controversy has invaded the hotel world.

On Thursday, the office of Arizona-based Sheriff Joe Arpaio - noted for his roundups of illegal immigrants - arrested the manager of a Days Inn budget hotel in Phoenix a month after raiding it, according to local media reports including news-talk station KTAR.

Deputies took into custody Jose Molinar, 40, on suspicion of using false identity to get his job at the hotel, located at 502 West Camelback Road.

"This is one example of illegal aliens thumbing their nose at this office and the laws against illegal immigration," Arpaio is quoted as saying about Molinar's arrest.

Fox affiliate KSAZ reports the sheriff's office determined that 10 of the 18 workers at the hotel used false information to get their job.

The Days Inn in question is one of approximately 1,800 Days Inn locations.

Wyndham's comment

The budget brand is owned by publicly held Wyndham Worldwide's hotel group, which franchises the name to hotel owners.

The stories do not say who specifically owns the Days Inn hotel, but it is possible they could face action by Arpaio's office. Arpaio vowed to continue investigating the hotel.

In response to Hotel Check-In's questions about this case, Wyndham spokeswoman Christine DaSilva sent this limited statement:

"While this hotel is independently owned and operated under a franchise agreement, it is required, as are all of our hotels, to operate in a manner that is compliant with our specific brand standards as well as follow all local, state and federal laws."

Deputies raided the Days Inn on Aug. 24

According to the Arizona Republic's story about the Aug. 24 raid on the Days Inn hotel, sheriff's deputies went into the workplace trying to arrest 10 employees on suspicion of identity theft and being in the country illegally. That day, they arrested one woman.

"Molinar avoided arrest along with nine others and had the audacity to return to the workplace," Arpaio is quoted as saying in two stories by KTAR and the Phoenix New Times. "This is one example of illegal aliens thumbing their nose at this office and the laws against illegal immigration. The investigation of the Days Inn, who had hired Molinar, continues."

When the New Times asked Arpaio's office whether they will go after the hotel owner, they did not receive an answer.

"The sheriff's office declined comment when asked to expand on the investigation into the owner of the hotel, and whether there was a realistic chance that he'd actually be charged with a crime or face sanctions."

The raid on the Days Inn hotel was the 51st such operation this year by Arpaio's office, the stories say.

The hotel, by the way, is ranked No. 104 out of 175 Phoenix hotels reviewed on TripAdvisor.

The latest review said the location was great and the staff was "very nice" but that the condition of the hotel "is very poor."

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