Misinformation about US government giving smartphones to immigrants debunked

Recently, social media users have resurfaced false claims that the US government is giving smartphones with unlimited texting and internet access to immigrants who cross the country’s border illegally. The fact is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does provide phones to some immigrants who are part of ICE’s Alternatives to Detention in exchange for remaining in detention or wearing a tracking device. However, the devices are not connected to a mobile network. They cannot be used to browse the internet, make unauthorised calls or access apps other than SmartLink, which monitors immigrants after crossing the border.

An ICE spokeswoman pointed to an ICE website that describes the programme, saying that certain participants will be issued with devices that can only run the SmartLINK application’ if their phone does not support the app at enrolment. The phones are manufactured by BI Incorporated, a company specialising in electronic monitoring technologies. BI is a subsidiary of The GEO Group, a private prison company that, among other contracts, is the operator of immigration detention facilities for ICE. 

According to ICE statistics, at the end of 2022, more than 257,000 active Alternative to Detention participants used the SmartLink app. That number had dropped to about 224,000 by early May 2023. Issues such as privacy and whether the app is necessary for immigrants with no criminal record have been raised by critics of SmartLink.