U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is increasingly relying on GPS ankle monitors to supervise immigrants living outside detention facilities, with nearly 54,000 people now reportedly wearing the devices as the agency shifts toward more intensive forms of electronic monitoring.
The latest figure was disclosed by government contractor GEO Group, whose subsidiary BI Incorporated operates ICE’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, known as ISAP. GEO executives said during the company’s latest earnings call that overall enrollment remains around 184,000 people, but the type of monitoring being used has changed significantly.
Rather than dramatically increasing the total number of people in the program, ICE has moved thousands of participants from smartphone-based check-ins and other supervision methods to GPS-equipped ankle monitors.
That represents a major increase from early 2025, when approximately 17,000 participants were using ankle monitors. By May 2026, GEO reported that the number had already climbed above 48,000 while SmartLINK users had fallen to approximately 131,000.
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The latest company figures put ankle-monitor use at nearly 54,000.
ISAP is designed as an alternative to immigration detention. Participants generally remain in their communities while their immigration proceedings continue but must comply with conditions established by ICE.
According to ICE, supervision can include GPS devices, smartphone-based reporting, telephone check-ins and case-management services. The agency says supervision levels can take into account factors including immigration status, criminal history, previous compliance, family or community ties and humanitarian or medical circumstances.
GPS ankle monitors provide considerably more continuous location information than scheduled mobile-app check-ins. That difference has become central to both the policy debate and a growing legal challenge.
The shift also has financial implications.
GPS monitoring costs the government more per participant than SmartLINK-based reporting. Historical ICE data placed GPS monitoring at roughly $2.74 per participant per day, compared with about $0.96 for SmartLINK, although contract pricing can change over time.
GEO executives have acknowledged that moving participants toward higher-priced monitoring technologies and additional case-management services can increase revenue from the ISAP contract even if the overall number of participants remains relatively stable.
That makes the policy relevant not only to immigration enforcement but also to federal spending. At roughly 54,000 ankle-monitor participants, even relatively small differences in daily per-person costs can translate into substantial taxpayer expenses over the course of a year.
The expansion is already facing a court challenge.
In June, immigration-rights organizations filed a federal class-action lawsuit challenging what they describe as a policy of imposing GPS monitoring without sufficient individualized justification. The lawsuit alleges that some participants have been subjected to continuous monitoring without an adequate opportunity to challenge the level of supervision imposed on them.
The plaintiffs are asking a federal court to block what they characterize as blanket GPS monitoring and require ICE to make individualized determinations about when such devices are necessary. Those allegations remain subject to litigation, and the court has not made a final ruling on the merits of the case.
Advocates involved in the lawsuit also allege that some participants have experienced physical discomfort, difficulty working and other disruptions while wearing monitoring devices. ICE’s stated position, meanwhile, is that its Alternatives to Detention program is intended to help ensure compliance with release conditions and immigration proceedings while allowing individuals to remain outside detention.
The larger trend is notable because GEO had already been preparing for an expansion of federal immigration-monitoring programs. The company secured a new two-year ISAP contract in 2025 and has repeatedly told investors that the system is capable of supporting substantially larger numbers of participants.
The current shift suggests ICE is prioritizing the intensity of supervision even before dramatically increasing total ISAP enrollment.
Several questions remain unresolved, including how ICE determines which participants must wear ankle monitors, whether overall enrollment will eventually rise substantially, and whether federal courts will place limits on broader GPS-monitoring policies.
The answers could determine whether the current increase represents a temporary enforcement strategy or the beginning of a much larger expansion of electronic immigration supervision.
Why It Matters
The rapid rise in ankle-monitor use affects immigrants who are living in U.S. communities while their cases move through the immigration system, but it also raises broader questions about privacy, government surveillance and federal spending.
For taxpayers, moving tens of thousands of people from lower-cost digital check-ins to more expensive GPS monitoring could increase the cost of the program even if the total number of participants stays roughly unchanged.
For policymakers, the central issue is whether more intensive monitoring produces enough enforcement benefits to justify the additional financial cost and intrusion into participants’ daily lives.
What Comes Next
ICE could continue shifting additional ISAP participants toward GPS monitoring as the Trump administration expands immigration enforcement.
At the same time, the pending federal lawsuit could determine whether ICE must provide stronger individualized justification before requiring people to wear GPS devices. GEO’s future earnings reports should also provide more information on whether the number of ankle-monitor users — and the overall size of ISAP — continues to grow.
Reports have documented immigrants being placed on GPS ankle monitors after routine ICE check-ins.
Fear is spreading in Haitian communities as hundreds in Ohio who had TPS were called into meetings with DHS and fitted with ankle monitors. TPS expired for Haitians and Syrians in July, despite many TPS holders filling critical gaps in healthcare. Watch: https://t.co/1FmqHaqRaw pic.twitter.com/3oPBK11F3E
— ABIC Action (@ABICaction) August 6, 2026
