❓WHAT HAPPENED: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been instructed to increase the use of GPS-enabled ankle monitors for immigrants in the Alternatives to Detention program.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: ICE personnel, immigrants enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
📍WHEN & WHERE: McLaughlin said that illegals who do not want to wear ankle monitors should leave the country on July 24.
💬KEY QUOTE: “If you are in America illegally, you may be ‘shackled’ with a GPS ankle monitor. If you don’t want to wear one, you should leave the country now.” — DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin
🎯IMPACT: The policy could significantly expand surveillance and affect thousands of immigrants, with potential business impacts for private companies involved.
The Trump administration has increased the use of GPS-enabled ankle monitors for illegal immigrants, according to an internal ICE document. ICE has instructed personnel to apply these devices to all migrants in the Alternatives to Detention program—around 183,000 people, compared to only 24,000 who are tagged at present—wherever it is feasible. An exception is made for pregnant women, who will wear wrist-worn devices instead.
Critics of immigration controls in the Democratic Party, nonprofits, and corporate media argue the devices are stigmatizing, with The Washington Post suggesting illegals are being “shackled”—despite admitting they are only as heavy as a deck of cards.
The Trump administration is taking these criticisms in stride, with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responding on Thursday, “Yes. If you are in America illegally, you may be ‘shackled’ with a GPS ankle monitor. If you don’t want to wear one, you should leave the country now through the [CBP] Home app!”
ICE spokeswoman Emily Covington stated that ankle monitors are an “enforcement tool” to ensure compliance with immigration laws, adding that “more accountability shouldn’t come as a surprise.”
Yes. If you are in America illegally, you may be “shackled” with a GPS ankle monitor. If you don’t want to wear one, you should leave the country now through the @CBP Home app!
Democracy really would die in darkness without the @washingtonpost. https://t.co/2d6V3aO6s6 pic.twitter.com/WLXmA6J3Or
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) July 24, 2025
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