Taxpayers expected to save millions after COVID-era perk for illegal immigrants gets cancelled

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ended a COVID-era program that granted hundreds of free minutes of video calls to illegal immigrants, Fox News Digital has learned – a move that is estimated to save taxpayers more than $10 million a year.

The federal agency began offering illegal immigrants in custody 520 minutes of free domestic and international phone and video calls per month in May 2020 due to the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic and visitation restrictions that were implemented as a consequence.