Behind the monitors, dozens of customer support employees scan their screens for an alert to pop up the signal they may be about to lose track of one of the thousands of people theyre tasked with watching. The BI had conducted extensive testing of its products and had not reported any instances or evidence that the ankle monitors produced enough heat or power to overheat or shock someone, it said. Rob Wittman, WRVA interview, April 8, 2022 (4:44 mark) PolitiFact, " Claim about smartphones given to immigrants misses key context: they're used for tracking ," Aug. 14, 2022. U.S. authorities have broadly expanded the use of SmartLink, a smartphone app from BI Inc, a Boulder, Colorado-based subsidiary of private prison company The GEO Group, that was used during the . Initially, SmartLink was seen as a less intensive alternative to ankle monitors for immigrants who had been detained and released, but it is now being used widely on immigrants with no criminal history and who have not been detained at all, said Julie Mao, deputy director of the immigrant rights group Just Futures. US immigration surveillance program desperately needs reform Immigrant groups sue ICE for information on alternative detention When she opened it up to diligently take and send a selfie on the designated day, the picture wouldnt deliver. Deportation Agents Use Smartphone App To Monitor Immigrants The level of supervision assigned to users is decided by ICE agents based on an individuals immigration status, criminal history, compliance history and other personal factors.