Digital Detention
For-Profit Surveillance of Migrants in the USA
Directed and Produced by Carolina Sánchez Boe
“Digital Detention” is a documentary that unveils a booming industry in the surveillance of immigrants, where GPS monitors and facial recognition apps turn migrants and asylum-seekers into data for profit. The film exposes the personal and societal impacts of this new form of control using invasive technologies, highlighting the stories of asylum-seekers living under constant surveillance in Austin, Texas, a city transformed by the tech boom.
About the Film
Across the USA, every day, hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and migrants are tracked through a GPS device strapped to their ankle or wrist, or facial recognition, as they await their case determination. This deployment of for-profit surveillance technologies creates a parallel system to the booming detention system that makes the USA the country with the largest immigrant detention population in the world.
Digital Detention shows how these technologies spread surveillance into communities, homes and workplaces, forming a for-profit, continuous expansion of detention, which guarantees major revenues to one of the world’s largest prison corporations that benefits both from the expansion of detention facilities and from their so-called alternatives. This public/private partnership imposes a significant financial cost on US taxpayers and a considerable human toll on migrants, their family members and larger community. Digital Detention is created in collaboration with monitored asylum seekers, community activists and lawyers in Austin, Texas, a city which is itself rapidly transformed by the tech industry, with lasting effects on its communities. Confinement and migration control are often laboratories for what is to come later for the general population, and the film shows how these extractive for-profit models of surveillance capitalism concern us all.
Runtime: 53 minutes 44 seconds
Director and Producer – Carolina Sánchez Boe, PhD, is an anthropologist and a sociologist. Her academic research centers on the anthropology of confinement, surveillance, deportation, illegalization, and bordering practices in urban spaces, primarily in France and the USA. She has contributed to advocacy and policy reports on the rights of prisoners and immigrants, most lately to the American Bar Association 2024 report on electronic monitoring.
Director of Photography – Jessie Rodriguez
Born and raised in small town Perryton, Texas, Mexican-American cinematographer, photographer, and creative director Jessie Rodriguez has always dreamt of big things. Staying true to his roots and keeping his culture close to his heart, Jessie has dedicated his career to showcasing and amplifying the beauty and diversity of the people that make up Texas. He has creatively led campaigns through different mediums such as fashion and lifestyle photography, music videos, documentaries and short form video campaigns. As reflected from his diverse portfolio, no creative idea is too big or too challenging.
Editor – Thea Svane
Thea Svane is a visual anthropologist specializing in the intersection of activism, technology, and material culture. Her recent work focuses on surveillance and repression of pro-Palestinian activism in the USA. Since 2021, she has been working with visual ethnography, aspiring to use it as a tool to illuminate voices often excluded from mainstream narratives. She holds a BA in Anthropology from Copenhagen University and an MA in Visual Anthropology at Aarhus University.
Sound and Music Score – François Lê Xuân
François is a record producer, composer, musician and sound engineer based in Paris. After working as a project manager at Universal Music Jazz (1999-2002), he founded Saga in 2002, an independent label specializing in the reissue of historic recordings (jazz, blues, chanson…). In 2007, he launched Studio 101, a mastering studio where he works as a sound engineer. He has taken part in over 300 recording projects and works regularly for Universal Music, Sony, BMG-RM… As a musician and composer, he has played on the records of: Emilie Satt “01” (Limoncello), “V for Vertigo” (Universal), Jacques Coursil “Trail of Tears” (Verve), and composed for image. He is also co-author of the book Notes de Voyage: Les musiques de Corto Maltese (Casterman 2009).
Line Producer – Rebecca Mendoza Mejia
Rebecca is a first generation Mexican-American Director, Screenwriter and Producer. Based in Brooklyn, NY, but born and raised on the Texas US-Mexico border, she found herself traveling back and forth between countries and cultures, allowing herself to explore both worlds. Throughout her young career, she has taken on a variety of roles that all embody her love for honest storytelling and creative expression. From brand managing the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, directing and producing anything from documentaries, short films, music videos to branded content
If you’re interested in collaborating or screening the film, we’d be happy to hear from you.
Reach out at DigitalDetentionFilm@gmail.com
Produced with Generous Support from
Wenner-Gren Foundation
The Carlsberg Foundation
Independent Research Fund Denmark
Carolina Sanchez Boe 