NEW: Today, we're releasing a report I wrote as a part of my fellowship with @JustFuturesLaw & @ConMijente on ICE's Alternatives to Detention (ATD-ISAP), diving into the details of the program & the surveillance tech which enables it. Read the report here: bit.ly/ICEDigitalPris…
https://twitter.com/GuardianUS/status/1399667834955911169
As of May 2021, there are 96,574 immigrants subject to the program. ICE's field offices in Los Angeles (10,693), San Francisco (10,668), and Detroit (7,953) are the top three. Many field offices have rapidly expanded ATD-ISAP in the last few months. 
Immigrants spend an average of 837.8 days in digital detention — that's 837.8 days too many of the physical and emotional harms of persistent surveillance. The average number of days in some cities is almost 1,500.
This program is NOT an alternative to detention, it's a technological extension. Immigrants are subject to invasive ankle shackles, voice verification, and facial recognition check-ins through an app called SmartLINK which has the ability to constantly monitor.
Individuals are also responsible for home and office check-ins, many of which are unannounced. ICE officers are instructed to look for "clear and visible physical changes" and "evidence of flight risk," vague guidelines which can subject immigrants to re-detention.
The program is run by GEO Group, a subsidiary of B.I. Incorporated which profits from mass incarceration. While ICE attempts to pitch its program as an "alternative," B.I. running the program is the first indication that it is deeply rooted in the prison industrial complex.
ICE's budget itself highlights that the program cannot be treated as an alternative. From 2006 to 2021, the budget for ATD-ISAP increased from $28 million to $440 million while the budget for detention increased from $1 billion to $2.8 billion.
In the last two years, the number of individuals on SmartLINK has tripled. ICE is increasingly relying on app-based monitoring. Many community members have concerns about the information the app is collecting and complain the app often just doesn't work.
Most importantly, the program is a continuation of DHS' carceral approach to immigration and advocates should reject it. Immigrants should not be surveilled and criminalized, period. Read more in our report here: bit.ly/ICEDigitalPris…
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