Another campaign, another outrage over ‘free phones’

Former President Donald Trump questioned who was paying for the phones of illegal aliens, suggesting that the federal government is handing out high-quality cellphones to migrants as part of its purported efforts to flood the country with immigrants. This is the latest iteration of the political right’s frustration with the idea that the government (and, particularly, an incumbent Democratic president) is spending money on frivolous giveaways (in their estimation) to poor people of color. The government does have a program in which people seeking asylum are given mobile devices. However, the “cellphones” serve more as functional replacements for the ankle monitors that immigration officials used to use to track people awaiting legal hearings. The devices, made by BI Incorporated, have limited applications that asylum seekers can only use to track documents related to their cases, receive updates on hearings, and check in with government officials. Some asylum seekers do have their own phones, of course, or get phones at some point after making their asylum claims. They can turn in their limited-functionality BI devices and install an application (also from BI) called SmartLINK, which has the same functionality as the BI devices. Ultimately, the BI devices are basically vehicles for the app and nothing else. It’s worth noting that the distribution of devices began in 2018—during Trump’s own presidential administration.