Selfies, surprise visits, secret codes: A third-party monitoring company flips Minnesota immigrants’ lives upside down

By: Katelyn Vue

Outlets: Sahan Journal

Published: March 18, 2026

Words: 1,633

Last Updated: 2 days, 19 hours ago

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Every week, Natalie takes a selfie and sends it to a private, third-party contractor that tracks immigrants’ whereabouts for the federal government. Every two weeks, she visits an office building in Bloomington to meet with her “case specialist,” who asks her several personal questions about her marriage status, criminal violations, her attorney’s identity and whether she’s pregnant.

Once a month, she has to sit at home for 11 hours between 7 a.m. and 6 …

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