Two of the suspects in the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray in Texas were taking part in a program that has been expanded under President Biden.
Venezuelan migrants Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, were recipients of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Alternative to Detention program and were fitted with ankle bracelets to monitor their movements before their release.
The program aims to quickly process migrants seeking asylum without overburdening overcrowded detention centers and release them back into society with tracking devices and strict rules such as curfews and check-ins.
“The evidence is clear that a sexual assault likely occurred,” prosecutors say
Franklin Jose Peña Ramos (left) and Johan Jose Martinez Rangel are charged with murdering Jocelyn Nungaray on Monday, June 17, in Houston. (Harris County Jail)
The latest data from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse shows a continuing rise in ICE’s use of GPS watches and GPS ankle monitors as an alternative to detaining immigrants: The number of immigrants using GPS watches, introduced in 2023, rose to 572 in April, while the number of immigrants using GPS ankle bracelets more than tripled to 18,518 in April, up from 5,000 in June of last year.
Both Martinez-Rangel and Ramos were fitted with GPS ankle monitors after entering the country illegally, but Martinez-Rangel was allowed to remove the device after complying with a mandatory two-month immigration screening, while Ramos was wearing a tracking bracelet at the time of the crime but removed it himself several days after he was suspected of being involved.
Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department said the bracelets did not help track the suspect’s location.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration last year replaced its controversial expanded use of detention centers with a new program to expand the use of GPS tracking devices in the Family Emergency Removal Management program, which outfits certain heads of migrant families with devices. The administration has also touted the program as a way to speed up deportation proceedings.
This week, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray was found strangled to death in a creek in Houston. (Courtesy of Fox Houston and the Nungarei Family)
The suspected illegal immigrant accused of killing Jocelyn Nangaray was wearing an ice ankle monitor.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in family deportations over the last nine months compared to previous years, so it’s been successful in that respect,” Thomas Giles, the ICE official who runs the program, told The New York Times in March.
John Sandweg, who served as acting director of ICE during the Obama administration, also praised the program, telling The New York Times that it was “something we’ve had to do for 10 years, and on a massive scale.”
However, it is unclear whether there are effective safeguards in place to prevent potentially dangerous migrants from participating in the program and becoming a risk to public safety. The Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital about the extent to which their agencies verify migrants’ identities before releasing them on the devices.
Both Martinez Rangel and Ramos made their initial court appearances this week, where a judge set bail for each at $10 million, citing their perceived flight risks.
Both suspects are charged with murder in the case, after they allegedly lured Nungarei under a bridge in Houston, tied her up and killed her.
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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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