Rubbish Check
Guardian US · 6 August 2026 source

“ICE is now tracking nearly 54,000 immigrants via ankle monitors”

R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates the Guardian's claim that ICE tracks nearly 54,000 immigrants via ankle monitors a 2/10 because the figure comes straight from GEO Group's own earnings call and matches the company's publicly reported ISAP shift, with only minor framing choices (leading with the ankle-monitor count rather than the flat overall total) separating headline from source.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The number is real, sourced directly to the company running the program, and consistent with the trend GEO Group has been reporting since early 2025. The only iteration away from pure base fact is that the headline foregrounds the ankle-monitor spike without noting in the same breath that total ISAP enrollment has stayed flat, a fact the article itself surfaces high up and doesn't bury.

What actually happened

GEO Group, the private prison firm that runs ICE's ISAP surveillance program through subsidiary BI Inc, disclosed on its Thursday earnings call that the US is tracking nearly 54,000 immigrants through GPS-enabled ankle monitors, up from just 17,000 in early last year. The overall number of immigrants enrolled in the surveillance program remained flat at about 184,000, meaning the growth reflects a reshuffling within the program rather than expanded enrollment.

Key facts

  • Ankle-monitor participants: nearly 54,000 now vs 17,000 in early 2025, per GEO Group's earnings call.
  • Total ISAP enrollment: flat at ~184,000, per the same call; GEO Group's Q1 2026 call had already shown the identical pattern, ~48,000 on ankle monitors (up from 17,000) against ~180,000-181,000 total participants, confirming the trend's trajectory.
  • Ankle monitors, pitched by the company as a "high-security level of monitoring," have increased revenues for Geo Group.
  • Ankle monitors cost ICE a little more than $2 a day per monitor, versus about $0.96 for the SmartLink phone app; more than 127,000 immigrants are on SmartLink.
  • GEO Group had expected ISAP to surpass its prior 370,000 peak and reach over 400,000 participants under the Trump administration, but investors flagged the lack of growth in overall numbers.

What to watch for

  • Whether Zoley's hint that "ISAP could increase dramatically" next year materialises, or whether flat enrollment persists despite the ankle-monitor shift.
  • The pending class action alleging the "ankle monitors for all" policy imposes continuous, real-time GPS monitoring without individualized justifications, which could force ICE to disclose more about the June 2025 directive.
  • Whether TPS revocations for Haitians and other policy shifts finally push total ISAP numbers up, which would be the real test of GEO Group's growth thesis.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
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