In the South, where talk of freedom rings loudest, a new kind of threat is emerging — a digital one.
Texas and federal immigration agencies are building a surveillance system where borders are drawn by GPS signals and app notifications. ICE is increasingly relying on alternatives to detention, turning migrants into carriers of digital leashes, allowing authorities to track them like characters in a dystopian novel.
True, most subjects of this surveillance would probably have been incarcerated in days past, awaiting their day in court. But this version of freedom feels no different from a cell. A person who isn’t locked up still cannot move freely, work, or turn off their phone.
In short, this means that a system created as a humane alternative has become a tool of surveillance, spreading from state to state. And the scariest part is that it could be repurposed to use on others.
Texas has become the testing ground for this digital oversight. According to the research service TRAC, southern counties in Texas are where migrants are most often connected to SmartLINK — an app that demands daily check-ins and real-time facial scans.
Texas is working closely with federal agencies, effectively creating a digital control network. ICE gains access to real-time location data, while local sheriffs can use facial recognition tools. Legislative efforts like Senate Bill 4 give the state more power over immigration enforcement, allowing it to mirror federal authority and build a parallel system of control.
What looks like greater leniency or weaker enforcement on the surface hides the constant tracking and surveillance without so much as a court ruling. The subject may be “free,” but he is chained to daily reporting, and any mistake can lead to detention. A glitch or a dead battery could send agents to your door.
Digital surveillance is barely regulated and lacks transparency. There’s almost no way to appeal. Meanwhile, ICE and BI Inc. — a subsidiary of GEO Group — continue to expand their technical reach. What began as an alternative to detention is becoming a model for full-scale control. GPS “ankle monitors” and surveillance apps are being prepared for wider use.
The South, with its hardline rhetoric, strong faith in law enforcement, and weak privacy protections, has become a testing ground for how far this sort of digital control can go.
This isn’t just about law. It’s about a new normal where the government knows where you’ve been, who you talked to, and whether you took a different route on your way home.
Today’s tools for migrants could easily be used on a wider group of people tomorrow — leaving anyone on law enforcement’s radar without any real privacy.
Artem Kolisnichenko writes on crime, immigration, and border policy across the American South and Southwest.
