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U.S. Customs and Border Protection or CBP uses facial recognition technology, known as the Traveler Verification Service (TVS), as part of a biometric entry and exit system at air, land, and sea ports of entry. Additionally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses facial recognition technology, including a mobile app for street-level identification, as part of recent deportation efforts. This is in addition to other surveillance methods for locating and tracking undocumented immigrants.
How it works
A live photo is taken of travelers entering or exiting the U.S. and is compared to a gallery of photos from travel documents like passports and visas. The purpose is to verify a traveler's identity.
Usage
It is most widely used at air and sea ports, with expanding use at land ports.
Recent changes
A final rule from October 2025 expands the collection of biometric data, including facial recognition, for nearly all non-citizens entering and exiting the country.
U.S. citizens
While U.S. citizens can opt out of the facial recognition scan, they must request an alternative manual screening.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been using facial recognition technology since at least 2016, with significant expansions and testing occurring in the following years, including its deployment at various airports and ports of entry. The technology is now in use at 32 airports and numerous land and sea ports across the country.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
ICE uses facial recognition for investigations and to monitor individuals enrolled in alternative-to-detention programs. ICE has been using facial recognition technology for several years, with significant expansion noted around 2019 when it began leveraging state DMV databases and contracting with companies like Clearview AI. The agency's use of this technology has raised concerns about privacy and misuseField use
In 2025, it was reported that ICE deployed a mobile app, "Mobile Fortify," that allows agents to use a smartphone to scan a person's face or contactless fingerprints to get instant biometric identification. The app accesses federal government databases and can also draw from commercial data brokers.
Data sources
ICE has accessed state driver's license databases and commercially compiled databases, including those from Clearview AI.
Alternatives to Detention (ATD)
The agency's ATD program, which is an alternative to holding people in detention facilities, requires participants to use an app called SmartLINK. This app uses facial recognition to confirm a person's identity and location.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
ICE's investigative branch uses facial recognition to identify individuals in criminal cases, including those involving child sexual exploitation.
Data from external vendors
ICE contracts with companies that compile vast databases of facial images scraped from the internet, including social media sites. For example, in 2025, ICE made new contracts with Clearview AI, a firm known for this controversial technology.
Access to state databases
Reports show that ICE has previously conducted facial recognition searches using photos from state motor vehicle departments, including those in so-called sanctuary states.
Privacy and legal concerns
The use of facial recognition by these agencies has raised significant privacy and accuracy concerns from civil liberties advocates.Accuracy issues
Studies have shown that facial recognition technology is less accurate for people of color and has led to wrongful detentions.
Scope creep
Critics fear that the technology, initially intended for border security, could be expanded for wider surveillance.
Database access
There are also concerns about ICE's access to external, commercially scraped databases and state records. There are many other databases that CBP maintains and collaborates on that are not incorporated directly into the TVS process currently. DHS and CBP cooperate with other federal agencies and also have some access to local and commercial data systems to check for photo comparisons, including Michigan Law Enforcement Information Network (MLEIN), New York State Intelligence Center Photo Imaging Mugshot System (PIMS), Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OHLEG), Pinellas County Face Analysis Comparison and Examination System (FACES), and commercial FRT systems: Clearview AI, through an agent stationed at the New York State Intelligence Center, and limited access to Vigilant Solutions.
History of CBP's Use of Facial Recognition Technology
CBP has been using facial recognition technology since at least 2018, with significant expansions occurring in subsequent years. The program continues to evolve as more locations adopt this technology for identity verification.
Initial Implementation
1996: Federal laws were enacted to develop an entry-exit data system, laying the groundwork for biometric technologies.
Expansion of Technology
2018: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began testing facial recognition technology at various ports of entry.
2020: CBP had deployed facial recognition technology at 27 airports to confirm travelers' identities as part of its Biometric Entry-Exit Program.
Expansion of Technology
2018: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began testing facial recognition technology at various ports of entry.
2020: CBP had deployed facial recognition technology at 27 airports to confirm travelers' identities as part of its Biometric Entry-Exit Program.
Current Status
2022: By July, CBP expanded its use of facial recognition to 32 airports for departing travelers and all arriving air travelers. The technology is also in use at 26 seaports and 159 land ports.
The CBP ONE App
The CBP One app, initially launched in 2020 provides travelers with a single point of access to various services, such as scheduling appointments and managing their I-94 information. Its purpose expanded significantly in 2023 to become the primary platform for migrants to schedule appointments for asylum processing at the U.S. southwest border and submit biometrics for specific parole programs. The app's function has since been changed, with the rebranded "CBP Home" app now being used to promote voluntary self-departure.
Expanded purpose and functionality under the Biden administration
Asylum processing (2023):
The app became the mandated platform for migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry for asylum processing.
Humanitarian parole
It was used for individuals applying for specific country-based humanitarian parole programs, who had to submit biometrics and complete a pre-screening process before arriving in the U.S.
Purpose
The expansion was intended to create an "orderly" and "safe" processing system, reduce the exploitation of migrants by smugglers, and manage migration flows.
Following the change in administration in January 2025, the app was rebranded as "CBP Home".
Voluntary self-departure
The primary function of the new app is now to promote the voluntary self-departure of individuals who are illegally in the United States.
Asylum processing (2023):
The app became the mandated platform for migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry for asylum processing.
Humanitarian parole
It was used for individuals applying for specific country-based humanitarian parole programs, who had to submit biometrics and complete a pre-screening process before arriving in the U.S.
Purpose
The expansion was intended to create an "orderly" and "safe" processing system, reduce the exploitation of migrants by smugglers, and manage migration flows.
Recent changes under the Trump administration
Rebranding and new purpose (2025)Following the change in administration in January 2025, the app was rebranded as "CBP Home".
Voluntary self-departure
The primary function of the new app is now to promote the voluntary self-departure of individuals who are illegally in the United States.
Further Reading
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Deployment of Biometric Technologies Report to Congress." August 30, 2019 Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General. CBP Complied with Facial Recognition Policies to Identify International Travelers at Airports, OIG-22-48. (Washington, DC, 2022)
TSA Myth Busters: Biometrics
Article by Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow of Governance Studies, and Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution.
Turner Lee, Nicol and Caitlin Chin. "Police Surveillance and Facial Recognition: Why Data Privacy Is Imperative for Communities of Color." Brookings, April 7, 2022.
https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/biometricsmythvsfacts_6_7_22.pdf
Turner Lee, Nicol and Caitlin Chin. "Police Surveillance and Facial Recognition: Why Data Privacy Is Imperative for Communities of Color." Brookings, April 7, 2022.