Trump's transition team considers broadening the use of ankle monitors for undocumented individuals not in detention.

Planet Chronicle Digital has learned that the Trump transition team is considering expanding the use of ankle-worn GPS monitors to track illegal immigrants who are not in federal immigration detention.

Trump, upon being elected president, has vowed to initiate a large-scale deportation operation and his transition team has already begun preparing for it.

According to multiple sources, the priority for the incoming administration is to detain and remove illegal immigrants, as well as prevent them from entering the U.S. in the first place.

Officials are expected to increase monitoring of those not in ICE detention until they can be removed, as ICE detention capacity is limited to tens of thousands compared to millions who are not currently detained.

Under the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, newly arrived illegal immigrants undergoing court proceedings are monitored by either an ankle-worn or wrist-worn device or through a cell phone app. According to ICE data as of November, approximately 187,747 individuals are being monitored, with about 25,000 on ankle monitors or wrist-worn devices. Typically, migrants are placed on ATD immediately after their release at the border and during the early stages of their cases.

The Trump administration is considering increasing the number of illegal immigrants being monitored by an ankle or wrist monitor while reducing the number of those not detained. Officials also want GPS tracking to be available for a longer period. Sources emphasized that if the southern border is shut down, as the administration plans, it will allow for more people in the interior to be moved to devices and for longer periods because the devices will no longer be needed for new arrivals entering the U.S.

The ATD and ICE programs have been criticized by some immigration activists as creating "digital prisons," while others on the right argue that the technology should be extended to track down and remove illegal immigrants if they are given a final order of deportation. However, proponents of these programs argue that compliance by those enrolled remains high and is cheaper than detention, costing $8 a day compared to $150 a day.

GPS monitoring may result in additional penalties for non-compliance, but the specific penalties are yet to be determined.

The Justice for Jocelyn Act, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Troy Nehls, proposes to require all illegal immigrants on the non-detained docket to undergo continuous GPS monitoring and be home between certain hours. Any noncompliance with an order to be removed in absentia would result in punishment.

The GEO Group has announced a $70 million investment to expand its capacity to provide detention, transport, and electronic monitoring services to ICE, in anticipation of a significant increase in ICE capacity under the upcoming administration's mass deportation campaign.