ICE check ins and ankle monitors: what happens and what your rights are

This page explains ICE check ins and monitors. It is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different. A lawyer can tell you what applies to you.

What are ICE check ins and ankle monitors?

When ICE releases someone, it often sets conditions to make sure they keep showing up. Two kinds are common:

• Check ins with ICE. You report to an ICE officer on the date in your papers, usually in person.
• ISAP, ICE's Alternatives to Detention program. ICE says it is for adults 18 and older who were released and are in deportation proceedings or have a final order (ICE, Alternatives to Detention). A company, BI Inc., runs the day to day. ISAP can use (checked October 18, 2026):
  • Phone check ins, where your voice is matched to a voiceprint.
  • The SmartLINK app, where you check in with a photo of your face. You must give the device back when the program ends or changes.
  • A GPS monitor on your ankle or wrist.

ICE says it decides your level based on your history, family and community ties, whether you care for someone, and health or humanitarian reasons. Your level can change (checked October 18, 2026).

What can happen at a check in right now?

Be ready for the truth: ICE has been arresting people at check ins in San Francisco. Reporters counted hundreds of arrests at check ins between January and October 2025. Arrests paused at the end of 2025 and started again in 2026, according to a Mission Local news report (checked October 18, 2026). Many people check in at 630 Sansome Street and wait hours. Check ins have also become more frequent for some people.

Legal groups also report that ICE sometimes asks people to come in for another reason, like fixing a monitor, and then detains them (Immigration Equality practice alert, checked October 18, 2026).

This does not mean you will be arrested. Many people go and come home. It means you should prepare as if you might not.

Should I still go?

Talk to a lawyer before you decide. Unless the date is moved, ICE expects you to come. ICE is alerted when you miss a check in (checked October 18, 2026), and legal groups warn that missing one can lead to arrest and can hurt your case.

If you cannot make it, a lawyer can ask ICE to move the date or to make it virtual. Do not just stay home.

How do I get ready before a check in?

• Call a lawyer now. Free and low cost help is on Free or low cost immigration legal help. Legal groups suggest your lawyer sign a Form G-28 for ICE ahead of time, and give you a copy to carry (checked October 18, 2026).
• Make your family plan. Decide who picks up your children and who can sign for them at school. See Make a family preparedness plan.
• Tell someone you trust where you are going, when you expect to be done, and who to call if you do not come back. Give them your A number and your lawyer's number.
• Save the rapid response number for your county (in the toolkit above).
• Keep your address current. Update ICE at portal.ice.gov/ocoa and the court on Form EOIR-33/IC. The ICE online form does not update the court (ICE handout, checked October 19, 2026).
• Bring your release papers, your check in notice, copies of any court papers, your lawyer's G-28, and a list of any medicines you take.

What are my rights at a check in?

• You can stay silent. You may choose not to answer questions from an immigration officer (checked October 18, 2026).
• Talk to a lawyer before you sign anything. Do not sign papers you do not understand, even if you feel pressured (checked October 18, 2026).
• You can have a lawyer in your deportation case, but the government does not pay for one (8 U.S.C. 1362, checked October 18, 2026). See Will the court give me a free lawyer?
• If you are detained and afraid to go back to your country, or to any other country ICE names, say so clearly, more than once. Legal groups warn that ICE may not ask you (checked October 18, 2026).

What are the rules for an ankle monitor?

• Keep it charged and keep your phone number working. If your number changes, tell ISAP and ICE right away.
• Report broken equipment to your ISAP case manager at BI.
• Do not take it off yourself. Only ICE can remove a monitor (checked October 18, 2026).
• Ask before you travel. Leaving the state without ICE's permission counts as a rule break (checked October 18, 2026).
• If you miss something, like a check in, a charge or a home visit, call ICE or your case manager right away and explain.

Can I ask to have the monitor removed?

Yes, you can ask. Only ICE decides (checked October 18, 2026). Talk with a lawyer first if you can. A guide for people without lawyers, from the American Immigration Lawyers Association, explains how (checked October 18, 2026):

1. Ask your ISAP case manager to recommend fewer check ins or no monitor. Explain how it affects your health, work or family.
2. If nothing changes, write to ICE. Write in English. Say why you will keep coming to court and check ins: your family here, your job, your record of showing up, any pregnancy or health problems. Keep a copy.
3. Deliver it to your ICE office or ISAP office, or email it, and keep proof that you sent it.
4. Follow up. If ICE says no, ask why, and ask a supervisor to review it. You can ask again later.

The guide is here: How to request removal of your GPS monitor (AILA).

What if I am detained at the check in?

• Say you want to talk to your lawyer. Do not sign anything.
• If you are afraid to go back to your country, or to any country ICE names, say so clearly.
• Your trusted person should call your lawyer and the rapid response line, then look for you in the ICE Online Detainee Locator. See How to find a family member detained by ICE.
• Ask your lawyer about bond. See How to get someone out of immigration detention on bond.

What does this look like in real life?

This example is made up to show the steps. It is not a real person.

Lina wears an ankle monitor and checks in every month. Her next check in is a Thursday. On Monday she calls her lawyer, who sends a G-28 to ICE and gives her a copy. On Tuesday she reviews her family plan with her neighbor, who will pick up her son if she is held. She charges her monitor and phone on Wednesday night. On Thursday she brings her release papers, her check in notice, the G-28 copy and her medicine list, and texts her neighbor when she walks in and again when she walks out. After six months with no missed check ins, she and her lawyer write to ICE asking to remove the monitor.

Who can help?

These are free or low cost nonprofits and county lines. Contact them to confirm hours, languages and openings. Being listed here is not a referral or a promise of service.

Anywhere in the United States: the DOJ List of Pro Bono Legal Service Providers, sorted by immigration court.

In the Bay Area:

• Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto: (650) 326-6440. Deportation defense for low income residents of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
• Pangea Legal Services (San Francisco Bay Area): (415) 254-0475. Deportation defense, free or low cost.
• San Mateo County Rapid Response Hotline, for San Mateo County residents: (203) 666-4472, open 24 hours.
• Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network, for Santa Clara County residents: (408) 290-1144.

Only a lawyer or a DOJ accredited representative may give you immigration legal advice. See Warning signs of an immigration scam.

Is there a checklist I can print?

You have shown up again and again. That counts. Prepare well, lean on your people, and keep going.