The United States will broaden the use of facial recognition technology to monitor non-citizens entering and leaving the country as part of an effort to curb visa overstays and passport fraud, according to a federal regulation published on Friday.
The new rule, set to take effect on December 26, authorizes U.S. border authorities to photograph foreign nationals at airports, seaports, and land crossings — extending an earlier pilot program — and, when necessary, to collect other biometric data such as fingerprints or DNA samples.
The regulation also removes current age exemptions, allowing officials to apply facial recognition technology to travelers under 14 and over 79 years old. Officials say the expanded use of biometrics will help verify identities more accurately and close loopholes in the border control system.
The move is part of a broader border security agenda under President Donald Trump, who has increased resources to fortify the U.S.-Mexico border and sought to reduce the number of migrants overstaying their visas. A 2023 estimate by the Congressional Research Service suggested that roughly 42% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. had originally entered legally but failed to depart when required.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) already uses facial recognition at all commercial airports for entry screening, but the technology is currently deployed for exits at only select locations. The agency expects to complete full implementation of a biometric entry-exit system at all commercial air and sea ports within three to five years.
Privacy and civil rights organizations have expressed growing concern about the expansion of facial recognition technology. A 2024 report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found that the systems were more likely to misidentify Black people and other minorities, raising questions about accuracy and potential bias.
Although Congress first mandated an automated entry-exit tracking system in 1996, the initiative has faced decades of delays and partial rollouts. The latest regulation marks the most comprehensive effort yet to operationalize that requirement across the nation’s borders.
