EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ended two programs that provide social services to illegal immigrants who are released into the U.S. interior, telling lawmakers that one brings “immense cost with little improvement” and that another is out of line with ICE’s mission.
The agency responded to Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and 15 members of Congress, who wrote to ICE in May asking for more information about the “Alternatives to Detention” program, which monitors illegal immigrants not in ICE detention. The agency defended the program and said it was “an efficient and effective” program for monitoring a segment of illegal immigrants on ICE’s non-detained docket.
ICE only has around 40,000 beds available to it at one time, while it has a non-detained docket of nearly 7.7 million people – a number that has soared during the Biden administration. Of those, just over 181,000 are enrolled in Alternatives to Detention monitoring program, where migrants are monitored either by an app check-in or a GPS monitor.
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This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (U.S. Border Patrol)
But in recent years, the agency has also created separate programs to offer various services and assistance to those not in detention. In the letter, the agency says that some of those programs are ending. One is the Wraparound Stabilization Service (WSS), which ICE says began in February 2020 and involves working with NGOs to offer “services that provide psychosocial and behavioral health support for vulnerable participants and their families who would benefit from additional stabilization services.
ICE says the program stopped referrals in July, and that the program was ineffective in what it sought to do, having only a 2% higher compliance rate from those who took part in services compared to those who did not.
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“ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations [ERO] notes the challenge with the WSS was its immense cost with little improvement,” it says. “As a result, ERO determined WSS was not cost effective enough to continue paying for these services when they did not benefit ICE or help the agency further its mission.”
ICE had previously cited difficulties with the program including a cumbersome identification and referral process, a substantial increase in participants and a lack of resources.
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Migrants wait in line to enter the shelter set up by the authorities for migrants as migrants wait for an appointment through the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) one application in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on May 23, 2023. (Christian Torres Chavez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The agency also says it had decided in June not to continue a vendor contract for the Young Adult Case Management (YACMP) program. That program offered 18-and 19-year-old migrants legal services, screenings, referrals to social service programs and human trafficking screenings. It started in 2023 and was present in 16 cities.
“In addition to fiscal limitations, a review of the program revealed that YACMP does not align with ERO’s mission or priorities. In short, ERO took steps to realign or stop using programs to address the budget challenges facing the agency,” the agency’s letter says.
The letter also provided information about the operation of the ATD tracking by app or GPS, known as the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP). ICE said that 98.6% of those with court tracking appeared at their court hearings overall, while 90.4% appeared for final hearings. As of September, 13.2% of participants were being tracked by a GPS ankle or wrist device, and the average length on the program was 511.9 days.
Lawmakers had also asked about those who were charged or convicted of crimes while enrolled in ATD. The agency said that in FY 2024, there were 3,913 charges and 688 convictions for those in the program, including 10 sex offense convictions, 364 traffic offense convictions, two homicide convictions, four kidnapping convictions and 65 assault convictions.
The incoming Trump administration is eyeing a substantial increase in deportations, with President-elect Trump having promised a “historic” mass deportation operation. Fox Digital also reported this month that it wants to reduce numbers not in detention, while also increasing the use of ankle monitors on those who cannot be detained.
Conservatives responded to the information provided to lawmakers by calling on the new administration to scrap even more programs providing services for illegal immigrants.
“ICE is a law enforcement agency not a charity. The billions of dollars DHS has wasted to bring millions of illegal aliens into the country and provide them excessive amenities should be redirected to getting every illegal alien safely back to their home country,” Lora Ries, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital.
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Ries called the services a “boondoggle” and said “there are several other similar initiatives that must meet the same fate under President Trump.”
“Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars in conflict with an agency mission, we should see a massive increase in resources for detaining and deporting illegal aliens. If you don’t support the agency’s mission, you shouldn’t get a dime,” she said.
