ICE scans faces in the field with no right to refuse, and keeps the photos for 15 years

What happened

ICE agents began scanning faces in the field with an app called Mobile Fortify on its March 25, 2025 launch. A joint CBP-ICE privacy threshold analysis obtained by 404 Media states that ICE does not give people the opportunity to decline or consent to the scan.

Agents may photograph anyone regardless of citizenship or immigration status, and every photograph or fingerprint, matched or not, is kept in CBP’s Automated Targeting System for 15 years. The retention rule applies to the people the app fails to match as well as those it does.

Attorneys for Illinois and Chicago told a federal court in February 2026 that the app had been used more than 100,000 times. On September 25, 2026, five members of Congress reintroduced a bill to bar government facial recognition.

Who benefited

ICE and CBP build a growing database of faces and fingerprints held for 15 years, including those of people who never matched anything. The scan needs no consent, and the images stay in CBP’s Automated Targeting System.

Who wanted something

ICE wanted to identify people on the spot, in the field, and its own analysis shows it chose not to give them the opportunity to decline. The same analysis says agents may photograph anyone, citizen or not.

Who lost out

Anyone an ICE agent photographs, citizen or noncitizen, matched or not, has no chance to refuse and has the image kept for 15 years. The number of people affected is at least 100,000 scans, by the count Illinois and Chicago gave the court.

Why it matters

A scan in the field requires no consent, covers citizens and noncitizens alike, and produces a record that lasts 15 years. By February 2026 the app had been used more than 100,000 times. A bill to bar the practice was reintroduced on September 25, 2026.

Sources DHS / CBP-ICE (via DocumentCloud) (primary)WIRED404 Media (archived)Biometric Update