Exclusives

EXCLUSIVE: New Wristband Monitors For Illegal Migrants Aim To ‘Destigmatize’ Enforcement With ‘Less Obtrusive’ Design

• Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is trying to appease immigration activists by moving to utilize a wristband to track illegal migrants released into the country, according to an internal document and two officials in the agency who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
• ICE chief Tae Johnson confirmed the program to Congress Tuesday.
• “ICE is transitioning into a more humane way of monitoring noncitizens enrolled in the ATD program after facing backlash from civil rights organizations, stating that the traditional GPS ankle monitor criminalized the noncitizens, and restricted them from ordinary every day life. In order to destigmatize ATD monitoring, ICE has announced that the use of a ‘tracking wristband or watch’ will now be considered and implemented in the near future,” an ICE agent, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak, told the DCNF.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is introducing wristband monitors to lessen the stigma associated with tracking illegal migrants released into the U.S. interior, according to an internal document and two U.S. officials who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

ICE said in the unreleased statement that the program will be tested in a “limited” capacity in Denver as part of its Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which uses ankle monitors, cellphones and phone applications to track illegal immigrants released into the country. The two officials told the DCNF that the new technology was introduced to appease organizations like the ACLU by destigmatizing GPS monitoring that’s usually conducted with ankle bracelets.

“ICE is transitioning into a more humane way of monitoring noncitizens enrolled in the ATD program after facing backlash from civil rights organizations, stating that the traditional GPS ankle monitor criminalized the noncitizens, and restricted them from ordinary every day life. In order to destigmatize ATD monitoring, ICE has announced that the use of a ‘tracking wristband or watch’ will now be considered and implemented in the near future,” an ICE agent, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak, told the DCNF.

“The wristband or watch thing was discussed last year when GPS monitors and phones were becoming an issue to get,” the agent added.

ICE acting chief Tae Johnson confirmed to Congress Tuesday that the agency will begin using the new technology just weeks ahead of an expected surge in illegal migrants at the Southern border after May 11, when the Trump-era expulsion order known as Title 42 is set to end.

“ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] is committed to continuously developing and modernizing tools and technologies to enhance how enforcement officers uphold U.S. immigration laws. These wrist-worn GPS monitoring devices would supplement existing ATD capabilities for doing so in a less obtrusive manner and increasing compliance for participants moving through the immigration process,” ERO Executive Associate Director Corey A. Price said in the unpublished draft press release.

ICE also seeks to use a removable wristband as an alternative to the unremovable bracelet technology, said  the DHS official, who also confirmed that the new initiative is meant to destigmatize the surveillance tools.

The agency has recently relied more on a phone application that only knows the location of an illegal immigrant at certain times, while lessening its reliance on ankle monitors that know a location at all times or most of the time, a recent DCNF investigation found.

“With an ankle bracelet, a person’s location is tracked around the clock and removal of the device sends an automatic alert. If these new wrist watches are allowed to be taken off, then their utility is really questionable. How would ICE know if the device is being worn by a friend or the family pet? To avoid this and the alleged stigma of ankle bracelets, ICE simply needs to detain most illegal aliens during the entirety of their cases,” Jon Feere, who served as ICE chief of staff during the Trump administration, told the DCNF.

ICE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.