ICE is ramping up surveillance, planning to shackle up to 180,000 immigrants with GPS ankle monitors under its Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program. A new internal memo directs ICE staff to use ankle devices “whenever possible.”
Currently, only 24,000 migrants wear them, but that’s about to change fast. Pregnant women will wear wrist monitors instead. Critics call this move “digital cages,” arguing it punishes even compliant migrants.
The expansion benefits Geo Group, ICE’s biggest contractor, whose devices often cause discomfort and stigma. Immigrants and lawyers say it’s a step backward, turning homes into high-tech detention zones. Compliant or not, more migrants like Paola, a Honduran mom, now face intense immigration tracking with little explanation.
