On Wednesday, the White House confirmed that President Joe Biden’s administration is giving illegal immigrants smartphones as part of an alleged attempt to “track” and “check in” with them before immigration court proceedings.
When Fox News correspondent Peter Ducey asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about the effort, Psaki said the administration needed to “take steps to make sure we know where individuals are and We can track and we can check with them.”
“The alternatives to the detention program that we use are three unique forms of technology for monitoring program participants enrolled in the program,” said Saki. “Telephonic is one of them, which uses a participant’s voice to generate a biometric voiceprint during the enrollment process. And when the participant has a check-in call, their voice is compared to the voiceprint.”
“SmartLink, which is another option, enables participant monitoring via a smartphone or tablet using facial matching technology to establish identity,” said Saki, adding that smartphone delivery “is part of our effort as individual joint Individuals who enter the state and who are entering will proceed to immigration proceedings to monitor and track where they are.”
Psaki claimed that the program was producing the desired results, with a “huge, vast majority” appearing for the hearing in time.
Ducey questioned whether the administration was concerned that illegal immigrants might “toss” cell phones after being released.
“Do you have a record of people throwing away phones?” Saki asked
“I’m just asking if it’s a concern,” Ducey pressed.
Psaki said, “Our concern is making sure that individuals who irregularly immigrate to the United States who move through our process are, you know, being monitored, of course, but Attending hearings to determine whether they will be able to stay.”
Saki re-emphasized that “the vast, vast majority is visible in part, we have these monitors, monitoring systems to do this effectively.”
Also on Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Meyerkas seeking information about “reports that DHS is planning to provide free phones to migrants.”
According to the letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Hawley said, “These reports demand answers.”
The GOP senator highlighted that US Customs and Border Protection “reported more than two million encounters with aliens illegally crossing the southern border last year”, noting that it “reported so far Highest number ever.”
