‘Constantly afraid’: immigrants on life under US government surveillance

Participants in the privately run Isap program, billed as an alternative to detention, describe painful ankle monitors and contradictory rules

Macarena had just put on a pair of skinny jeans when her phone rang.

On the other end of the line was an employee from BI Inc, the private contractor tracking Macarena's whereabouts on behalf of US Immigration authorities. The employee had received an alert that the ankle monitor Macarena was wearing had been tampered with, Macarena recalled them saying. They asked if she was trying to take it off.