ICE Now Using Mobile Phone Facial Recognition App

404 Media reports:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using a new mobile phone app that can identify someone based on their fingerprints or face by simply pointing a smartphone camera at them, according to internal ICE emails viewed by 404 Media.

The underlying system used for the facial recognition component of the app is ordinarily used when people enter or exit the U.S. Now, that system is being used inside the U.S. by ICE to identify people in the field.

The news highlights the Trump administration’s growing use of sophisticated technology for its mass deportation efforts and ICE’s enforcement of its arrest quotas. The document also shows how biometric systems built for one reason can be repurposed for another, a constant fear and critique from civil liberties proponents of facial recognition tools.

Read the full article.

NEW: ICE is using a facial recognition smartphone app that pulls faces from CBP’s database of people who cross the border:https://t.co/G6tbELzliz

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) June 26, 2025