U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now monitoring nearly 54,000 immigrants through GPS-enabled ankle monitors, a sharp increase from about 17,000 a year ago, as the agency shifts thousands of people from less restrictive forms of electronic supervision to continuous location tracking. The change has also boosted revenue for private prison giant Geo Group, whose subsidiary manufactures and operates the devices.
The figures were disclosed Thursday by Geo Group during its latest earnings call, reported by The Guardian. The company, through its subsidiary BI Inc., manages ICE's Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), an alternative-to-detention system that tracks immigrants released into the community while their immigration cases move through the courts.
