On a hot Wednesday in June, Manuel Rodriguez-Juarez, a 33-year-old landscaper, got into an argument with his live-in girlfriend.
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.
