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Poor tech, opaque rules, exhausted staff: inside the private company surveilling US immigrants
BI claims it provides immigrant tracking and ‘high quality’ case management. A Guardian investigation paints a very different picture
The computers at the BI Inc call center in Anderson, Indiana, are powered around the clock. Behind the monitors, dozens of customer support employees scan their screens for an alert to pop up – the signal they may be about to lose track of one of the thousands of people they’re tasked with watching. The warning could mean the ankle monitor they’re keeping tabs on is running low on battery. Maybe someone they’re tracking missed a scheduled check-in or moved outside the perimeter they’re required to stay in.
The activities at the call center are part of the US government’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (Isap), a surveillance system launched in 2004 and pitched as a way to keep immigrants out of detention centers while they await a court hearing on their legal status.
Monitoring as many as 300 people at once, BI case managers often don’t have enough time to offer immigrants tailored support and some are even discouraged by managers from doing so.
BI’s ankle monitors can overheat, have shocked people, and at times are put on too tightly by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
BI’s app frequently malfunctions, causing immigrants to miss required check-ins.
There are few protocols governing case managers’ decisions, even though they have enormous repercussions in immigrants’ daily lives.
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