White House Says Cellphones for Migrants Used for Tracking

The White House defended the Department of Homeland Security providing free cellphones to migrants released into the community while their immigration proceedings are pending.

The phones are one of “three unique forms of technology” the DHS uses to monitor paroled migrants, according to press secretary Jen Psaki.

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Other monitoring is conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement once immigrants leave Border Patrol facilitates through a program called SmartLink that relies on smartphone or tablet facial matching to confirm a migrant’s identity, as well as global positioning systems, which track their location and movement via satellites and ankle bracelets, according to Psaki.

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