DHS rule expands facial recognition to all US ports of entry for foreign travelers

By Landon Mion 

The Department of Homeland Security has issued new guidance requiring foreign nationals – including green card holders and other non-U.S. citizens living legally in the country, to be photographed when they enter or leave the United States.

CBP currently employs facial recognition at airport checkpoints, but the updated rule will broaden its use to cover every U.S. entry and exit point — by air, land, and sea.

The change will broaden CBP’s biometric screening program to include more comprehensive image and data collection aimed at tightening verification procedures and preventing document fraud.

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"This final rule amends Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations to provide that DHS may require all aliens to be photographed when entering or exiting the United States, and may require non-exempt aliens to provide other biometrics," a summary of the new policy in the Federal Register reads.

"The final rule also amends the regulations to remove the references to pilot programs and the port limitation to permit collection of biometrics from aliens departing from airports, land ports, seaports, or any other authorized point of departure. In addition, DHS is requesting comments on the specific collection process as well as costs and benefits for new transportation modalities," it continued.

The rule also lifts previous age exemptions, authorizing facial recognition scans for travelers younger than 14 and older than 79.

 

"The exemptions in the current regulations for biometric collection based on the age of the individual (i.e., under 14 and over 79) were based on technological limitations on collecting fingerprints from children and elderly persons, as well as traditional law enforcement policies and other policies, such as not running criminal history background checks on children," the policy stated.

"These exemptions are not applicable to CBP’s facial comparison-based biometric entry-exit program, as the use of biometrics has expanded beyond criminal history background checks and now plays a vital role in identity verification and management, and combatting the trafficking of children," it added. "Furthermore, internal CBP studies of biometric facial match accuracy, historical matching data, examination of biometric matching of ages under 14 and over 79, and CBP standard operating procedures associated with these ages no longer support exempting facial biometric collection from these populations. Exemptions based on age will continue to apply to biometrics other than facial images."

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The new rules are slated to take effect on Dec. 26.

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The new rule comes as part of the Trump administration's broader immigration enforcement agenda, which focuses on expanding border surveillance and tightening entry requirements.