Phones given to US immigrants have limited uses

CLAIM: The U.S. government gives immigrants who cross the border illegally smartphones with unlimited texting and internet access.

APS EVALUATION: False. Immigration and Customs Enforcement yes give some immigrants phones. However, they can login only an app called SmartlinksWhich it’s used monitor immigrants after crossing the border, according to the agency, the company that makes the phones and an immigration expert. THE the devices are not connected to a cellular network and cannot be used to browse the Internet, make unauthorized phone calls, or access apps other than SmartLink.

THE FACTS: Over the past few days social media users have renewed incorrect claims about these phones, used by ICE since 2018.

Posts usually include a video first tweeted by a Washington Examiner reporter, who said it shows the boarding of migrants A flight from Brownsville, Texas, in Dallas. Even if the journalists’ tweet doesn’t mention it smartphonesother posts that share the video do.

Stowaways waiting to fly from Brownsville to Dallas — paid for by US taxpayers while on their taxpayer-paid Galaxy 10 smartphones with unlimited text and internet, read a tweet that had received more than 16,000 likes and more than 11,600 shares Wednesday.

An Instagram post with a similar caption received more than 16,000 likes.

Immigrants participating in the ICE Alternative to Detention program can be issued phones instead of remaining in custody or wearing a tracking device such as an ankle monitor. But these devices they have extremely limited uses not the unlimited messaging and web browsing that posts suggest.

An ICE spokesman pointed to the agencies Web page describing the program, that says certain participants I am has released a device that can only run the SmartLINK application if you do not have a personal phone that supports the app at the time of registration. They must return the device if they purchase their own phone, are reassigned to a different technology, or are no longer part of the program.

SmartLINK is intended for the sole purpose of providing immigration compliance and case management services to ATD participants, the page states. He goes on to explain that this includes verifying where attendees complete scheduled check-ins from, reminding attendees of court hearings, and providing a database of community services.

The phones are manufactured by BI Incorporated, an electronic monitoring technology company. BI is a subsidiary of The GEO Group, a private prison company that operates immigration detention facilities for ICE under other contracts.

Monica Hook, a spokeswoman for The GEO Group, told the Associated Press that the claims about phones with unlimited messaging and the Internet are categorically false.

BI Mobile is a portable communication device that comes with the BI SmartLink application pre-installed, he wrote in an email. BI Mobile is not a smartphone and does not have the associated features of traditional consumer smartphones such as Internet browsing, disabling device settings, and unauthorized calling and texting. These devices only enable program compliance functionality.

Rebekah Wolf, an expert on immigration detention and border issues who works as a policy consultant at the American Immigration Council, confirmed that these phones have limited capabilities.

BI controls which phone numbers it can call, so it’s not just sort of free-for-all, he told the AP. Must be Wi-Fi enabled because that’s how the SmartLink app works. But it doesn’t have software on it to, say, go to Google Chrome. Like the whole phone interface is just the app. So, yes, you can call because you can call your ICE officer.

Wolf has been to briefings with BI and the Department of Homeland Security where the use of these phones is discussed. He also works with local case management providers who directly interact with immigrants in the Alternatives to Detention program.

At the end of 2022, more than 257,000 active participants in the alternative to detention were using the SmartLink app, according to ICE statistics. By early May 2023, that number had dropped to around 224,000. Critics of SmartLink have raised concerns about issues such as privacy and whether the app is necessary for immigrants who don’t have a criminal record, the AP reported.

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This is part of the PA’s effort to address widely shared disinformation, including working with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to the misleading content circulating online. Learn more about fact checking in AP.