(CNN) The Biden administration is introducing a new program for migrant families released in the United States to track them as they go through a speedy deportation process, according to several sources familiar with the plans.
Family Expedited Removal Management (FERM) will provide certain heads of households with an alternative to detention, such as a GPS ankle monitor, and subject them to curfews in four cities, Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed in a statement.
The Los Angeles Times first reported on the show.
The families still have the opportunity to apply for asylum under the program and, if they meet the requirements, to go through the asylum procedure. Families not found to have credible fear are deported under the expedited deportation process, known as “expedited deportation,” which banishes them from the United States for five years.
The program is one of many initiatives the Biden administration has launched to try to stem the flow of migrants at the US-Mexico border – in this case families – after a Covid-era border restriction expires, known as Title 42.
“[Enforcement and Removal Operations] is committed to safely and humanely imposing immigration consequences on those who enter the United States illegally,” said Corey Price, executive associate director of ICE ERO, in a statement.
“Families shouldn’t listen to the lies of smugglers. Like single adults, non-citizens traveling with their children who do not have legal residency in the United States will be expedited and barred from re-entry for at least five years,” the statement said.
Last year, ICE conducted a similar pilot program with migrants living in Baltimore and Houston, enforcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew.
Government officials are struggling to manage a significant surge in the number of migrants attempting to enter the US as Title 42 – a pandemic-era rule that has allowed authorities to swiftly expel migrants found at the border – expires .
The Biden administration came under heavy criticism earlier this year when officials are reportedly considering reinstating the incarceration of family members, a practice President Joe Biden scrapped. Officials have since claimed there are no plans to return the practice.
But the high number of border arrests in recent days has brought the challenge facing the government to the fore.
According to a Department of Homeland Security official, U.S. border officials encountered more than 10,000 migrants along the U.S. southern border on Tuesday, already beating government estimates for the consequences of Title 42.
Among the new policies the government is introducing is a new asylum rule that will largely bar migrants who have transited through another country from seeking asylum in the US. The rule, proposed earlier this year, assumes that migrants will not be eligible for asylum in the US unless they first seek refuge in a country they transited through, such as Mexico, en route to the border. According to the authorities, migrants who secure an appointment via the CBP One app are exempt.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CORRECTION: Updated headline and article to reflect that the Los Angeles Times was the first to report the program’s launch.
CNN’s Jack Forrest contributed to this report.