PHOENIX — A Venezuelan national, who crossed the border legally with parole status through the CBP One app in 2023 and is awaiting an asylum case to play out in the courts, was approached at her home last week by people believed to be ICE contractors trying to put an ankle monitor on her.
The CBP One app is a mobile application from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
ABC15 obtained audio of the incident, which was sent to us from the woman from Venezuela who was being asked to put on the monitor. We are not identifying her due to safety concerns for her family.
"Look, if you’re not going to help us put the bracelet on, then we’ll just come back. We’ll stake out the house, and one day we’ll catch her, and one day, she’ll go into detention. So, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. She doesn’t have to come out. Just put her foot out, and we’re going to put this stupid bracelet on if that’s how you want to handle it,” a man, believed to be a contractor with ICE, can be heard saying in the audio.
The man can later be heard telling the Venezuelan woman that she needs to go to Behavioral Interventions, or BI Inc, which, according to its website, is a contractor that works closely with ICE and operates the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program — an alternative to detention.
”This is speculative, but one has to make certain conclusions based on the evidence they want the immigrant population at large, to be scared," said Renata Castro, founder of USA 4 Al, an immigration law firm. "That's their main goal when putting these ankle monitors and really getting people to drop out of the immigration court system."
While Castro is not affiliated with this case, she said what happened to this woman is allowed, whether it is ICE or one of its contractors. However, a warrant is needed to enter a home.
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“No matter if it's ICE or an agency or a contractor acting under the powers granted to ICE and transferred to this agency, they must have a warrant in order to search a person or a dwelling,” Castro told ABC15. "In this case, this Venezuelan family's home. But, if they knock on the door and no one opens, nothing keeps them from just stalking them out at, you know, as they go to school, as they go to work. So, it's just not viable to duck or to avoid some kind of encounter with ICE or one of their designated agencies or contractors.”
President Donald Trump ended admission into the U.S. through the CBP One App when he took office and gave ICE agents the discretion to cancel parole status and place immigrants in removal proceedings.
“The government can determine who and when they keep individuals detained while they wait for their immigration claim. So, it is unfair, it is ineffective, but they are acting within their jurisdiction,” Castro added.
So, even though the woman from Venezuela entered the U.S. legally, unlike a visa, parole is at the discretion of the U.S. and can be rescinded anytime.
