ICE aims to expand number of migrants tracked with ankle monitors: Report

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expected to increase the number of immigrants fitted

with GPS-equipped ankle monitors. The directive, first reported by The Washington Post Thursday

comes as the Trump administration ramps up surveillance of non-detained migrants. In the memo, ICE directs staff to fit people in the agency's Alternatives to Detention program

with ankle monitors whenever possible. Around 183,000 adult migrants are enrolled in ATD

consenting to some form of tracking or mandated check-in while their cases are pending. But

currently, only 24,000 of them reportedly wear ankle monitors. The new directive marks a

significant expansion of the 20-year-old surveillance program. While critics acknowledge the devices are more humane than detention centers, they argue the six-ounce monitors

are uncomfortable, stigmatizing, and invasive. Some legal experts claim the practice turns

people's homes into digital cages. They also note federal data by the American Immigration

Council shows the vast majority of non-detained migrants with resolved or pending deportation

cases attended all their court cases from 2008 to 2018. An ICE spokesperson declined to comment

on the memo but acknowledged the agency uses ankle monitors as an enforcement tool adding ICE still makes determinations on a case basis The increase in the number of ankle monitors worn is likely to direct more business toward GeoGroup a Florida private prison corporation that employed at least two of

President Donald Trump's top immigration officials in the past, including Tom Homan

who received consulting fees from the firm's immigration monitoring sector. A White House spokesperson stresses Homan recuses himself from all negotiations on

government contracts. The company also gave $1.5 million to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign

and inauguration fund and is ICE's largest contractor. The agency's surveillance program

is run entirely by BI Incorporated, a subsidiary of GEO. BI has reportedly been plagued by a lack

of a case manager, as well as old and faulty equipment. ICE is requesting GEO employ more

subcontractors to bulk up surveillance efforts. Only a fraction of immigrants with pending cases

are enrolled in ATD currently, which requires they wear a monitoring device or virtually check in

through an app, as well as meeting case managers in their home or BI office. Those enrolled reached

their highest number at 378,000 under the Biden administration, as border crossing spiked

but numbers have since declined. However, since January, the Trump administration has added

more than 4,100 enrollees with ankle monitors. For more on this story

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