US revives plan to use facial recognition to track all foreigners entering or leaving US

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) plans to reintroduce rules for a biometric tracking system that will include the use of facial recognition for individuals entering and exiting the United States. According to a Bloomberg Law report, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sent the proposal to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. The rule (RIN: 1651-AB12) is expected to take immediate effect as an interim final rule.

The DHS move signals a renewed effort to expand its biometric data collection infrastructure. The agency has been seeking data from federal bodies such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen immigration enforcement. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also reportedly increased biometric verification for H-1B visa holders during renewals and green card sponsorship filings.

The regulation revives a Trump-era proposal that would require all non-citizens to be photographed when they enter or leave the US. Under current regulations, DHS has authority to collect biometric data from certain non-citizen groups departing through specific air and sea ports. The earlier 2020 framework aimed to make the process uniform and nationwide.


Civil rights groups, including The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, previously objected to the 2020 proposal. In their public comments, they said, “The technology is prone to error and contributes to the over-criminalization of people of color.”

A related proposal by USCIS in 2020, which sought to collect DNA and other biometric data from applicants for immigration benefits, was withdrawn by the Biden administration in 2021.

The current rule, if cleared by the White House office, would expand the government’s ability to use biometric data for immigration enforcement, surveillance, and exit-entry tracking of non-citizens.