McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) -- The number of asylum-seekers U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Alternatives to Detention dropped significantly since last year in South Texas, according to new data. Immigration agency deports highest numbers since 2014, aided by more flights Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reports that as of Dec. 13, a total of 3,668 migrants were placed ATD program through the agency's Enforcement and Removals Operations office in Harlingen, which covers South Texas. That's down 10,000, or 72%, from the number who were being monitored on Dec. 16, 2023. The San Antonio office reported a drop of 7,900 individuals in ADT as of mid-December. On the other hand, the number of asylum-seekers put in ADT in Los Angeles increased by 3,700 and totaled nearly 16,000 as of Dec. 13, TRAC reports. Other cities reporting gains in asylum-seekers placed on ADT: Chicago with over 19,000 in ADT. New York with over 1,000 in ADT. Seattle with over 10,000 in ADT. (TRAC Graphic) Nationwide, there were over 185,000 asylum-seekers monitored through ATD programs as of Dec. 13, TRAC reports. In South Texas, those put in ADT were mostly monitored through SmartLINK -- a cellphone app that allows the agency to call and record the location of the migrant, as well as send calendar reminders for upcoming U.S. immigration court hearings. As of Dec. 13, there were 2,185 monitored via SmartLINK; 1,248 on ankle monitors; and 224 on wrist-worn GPS devices, which was piloted this past year. At the end of 2023, nearly 13,000 asylum-seekers were being monitored through SmartLINK in South Texas. Explainer: How immigrants end up on ICE’s non-detained docket The use of the Veri-Watch system wrist-worn GPS devices have doubled since May to over 6,100 nationwide, according to TRAC. The devices are lighter and less clunky than ankle-worn devices and track a person's whereabouts, allow facial matching and have messaging functions. (TRAC Graphic) Texas has the most ICE detainees of any state with 12,000, so far in Fiscal Year 2025, which began Oct. 1. That's twice the amount in Louisiana, which has the next highest number, TRAC reports. Nationwide, there are over 38,000 migrants being held in immigration detention facilities as of Dec. 15, according to TRAC. There are over 3.7 million backlogged U.S. immigration cases nationwide -- the most ever. TRAC reports that Florida has the most pending cases with 566,516, followed by 488,272 in Texas, and 404,562 pending cases in California. Sandra Sanchez can be reached at [email protected].