ICE Plans to Track Over 180,000 Immigrants With Ankle Monitors: Report

ICE plans to expand its use of electronic surveillance of immigrants from about 24,000 people currently fitted with GPS ankle monitors to about 183,000 people, according to a report from the Washington Post. The move will continue to shovel money to the private prison industry, which has been making money hand over fist since President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second time in January.

ICE released an internal memo on June 9 about the so-called Alternatives to Detention program, which allows immigrants to remain out of jail or detention camps while their cases are heard. The memo ordered the roughly 183,000 adult migrants involved in the program, which often involves checking in with the courts and immigration officers, to be outfitted with monitors, according to the Post.

Pregnant women would be required to wear a GPS wrist tracker rather than an ankle monitor, according to the new reporting. And while ankle monitors may sound preferable to getting locked up in some ICE detention facility, it’s still a dehumanizing process. The ankle monitors are also known to leave bruising and rashes and reportedly have a terrible battery life, making them inconvenient for people trying to go about their day without being flagged as in violation of the terms of their release.