Trump transition team considers expanding ankle monitors for illegal immigrants not in custody
exclusive: The Trump transition team is considering significantly expanding the use of ankle-worn GPS monitors to track illegal immigrants who are not in federal immigration detention, Fox News Digital has learned.
President-elect Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation campaign upon being sworn in, and his transition team has begun planning to make that happen.
Multiple sources familiar with the discussions told Fox News Digital that the incoming administration’s top priority is detaining and deporting illegal immigrants and preventing them from entering the United States in the first place.
However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a detention capacity of tens of thousands compared to the millions currently not in custody, and officials are also expected to increase monitoring of those not in custody until they are deported until.
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In this undated photo, ICE agents arrest an illegal immigrant. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Under the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, newly arrived illegal immigrants are monitored with ankle- or wrist-worn devices or using a mobile phone app while undergoing court proceedings, and are required to report to ICE. According to ICE data as of November, only 187,747 people were under technical surveillance, including about 25,000 through ankle monitors or wrist-worn devices. Typically, immigrants are placed on ATD from the time they are released to the border and early in the case life cycle.
The Trump administration is looking for ways to increase the number of illegal immigrants monitored by ankle or wrist monitors while drastically reducing the number who are not detained. Officials also want GPS tracking to be used for longer than currently available. Sources stressed that closing ports of entry at the southern border as planned by the government would allow more people inland to use the devices, and for longer, as new arrivals would no longer need them.
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Immigrants recently released from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center wear ankle monitors while waiting to board a flight at Shreveport Regional Airport (SHV) in Louisiana on August 14, 2024. (Wayan Barre/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Supporters of ATD and ICE argue that people registered under surveillance still have high levels of compliance and are cheaper than detention — $8 a day compared to $150 a day. But some immigration activists have blasted the ATD plan as creating a “digital prison,” while some on the right believe the technology needs to be expanded so that illegal immigrants can be tracked and deported if a final order is obtained.
Increased use of GPS monitoring may also come with additional penalties for noncompliance, although it’s unclear what those penalties will be.
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Increasing the number of African immigrants detained in ATD has been a top priority for Republicans. The Justice for Joslyn Act, introduced this year by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Republican Rep. Troy Niles, would require the government to place all undetained illegal immigrants on continuous GPS monitoring. It also requires registrants to go home between 10pm and 5am and imposes absentee eviction orders on anyone who fails to comply.
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Given the promise of mass deportations, the next administration is expected to significantly expand ICE’s capabilities. GEO Group, the exclusive contractor for the technology, announced a $70 million investment Monday to bolster its ability to provide detention capabilities, secure transportation and electronic surveillance services to ICE.
