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Original Date Announced
June 26, 2025404 Media reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using a new mobile phone app for interior immigration enforcement, called Mobile Fortify, that can identify a person by fingerprints images or by pointing a phone camera at them. Previously, CBP primarily used biometric identity-verification technology at ports of entry. In a leaked email sent to all personnel in Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), ICE instructed officers to "use this new tool to identify people whose identity ICE officers do not know."
Trump 2.0 [ID #1889]
2025.06.26 Reported: ICE Is Using New Facial Recognition App to Identify People - 404 MediaSubsequent Trump and Court Action
February 1, 20252025-02-01 DHS Privacy Office CBP-FO-2025-194657 - Mobile Fortify Privacy Threshold Analysis
A Privacy Threshold Analysis (PTA) obtained by 404 Media via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request describes the technical details and intended function of the Mobile Fortify app used by ICE and CBP agents to identify persons they encounter. When agents encounter "an individual or associates of that individual," they will first obtain a photograph of that person, which is sent to CBP's Traveler Verification Service. If no match is found, the app allows the agent to obtain "contactless fingerprint captures," which are matched against the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT), the largest biometric repository in the U.S. government.
The PTA states that "ICE does not provide the opportunity for individuals to decline or consent to the collection and use of biometric data/photograph collection." Photographs and fingerprints in the app will be retained for 15 years, including photos that do not match to existing DHS data. It notes also that "users may use Mobile Fortify to collect information in identifiable form about individuals regardless of citizenship or immigration status."
View DocumentSubsequent Trump and Court Action
October 29, 20252025.10.29 Reported: ICE Is Using New Facial Recognition App to Identify People in Public - 404 Media
404 Media reports that ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are using smartphone facial recognition technology in the field as a tool to identify individuals who are stopped in public. CBP confirmed agents are using the Mobile Fortify app on the ground. DHS' released the following statement on ICE's use of facial recognition technology: "DHS is not going to confirm or deny law enforcement capabilities or methods.” 404 Media also notes that based on a review of Mobile Fortify documentation, "Mobile Fortify may soon include data from commercial data brokers too," such as LexisNexis.
View DocumentSubsequent Trump and Court Action
November 4, 20252025.11.04 Reported: DHS Gives Local Cops a Facial Recognition App To Find Immigrants - 404 Media
404 Media reports that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has launched a new mobile-phone app called Mobile Identify to be used by state or local law-enforcement agents performing immigration-enforcement duties through 287(g) agreements. Through the app, agents can scan people's faces by pointing their phone camera at them. After a face is scanned, the app tells agents either to contact ICE to detain the person or let the person go.
View DocumentSubsequent Trump and Court Action
February 5, 20262026.02.05 Reported: ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are - WIRED
WIRED reports that ICE has used Mobile Fortify in the field 100,000 times since launch. Despite DHS’s framing of Mobile Fortify as a tool for identifying people through facial recognition, WIRED explains that the app does not accurately “verify” the identities of people stopped. WIRED also reviewed records showing that the app was approved after DHS dismantled centralized privacy reviews and removed department-wide limits on facial recognition.
View DocumentCurrent Status
NoneOriginal Trump Policy Status
Status: ReportedTrump Administration Action: Change in PracticeSubject Matter: EnforcementAgencies Affected: ICEAssociated or Derivative Policies
- September 24, 2018 CBP announces facial recognition technology at ports of entry
- April 18, 2025 Palantir granted $30 million to build "ImmigrationOS" surveillance platform for ICE
- August 6, 2025 ICE notices intent to sole-source iris-scanning app and database
- September 9, 2025 ICE contracts with Clearview AI for facial-recognition technology
- November 4, 2025 CBP provides facial-recognition mobile app for state/local law enforcement
Documents
Trump-Era Policy Documents
- Subsequent Action
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Commentary
Original Source:
Senators - Letter to ICE on Mobile Fortify
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Commentary
Original Source:
2026.02.10 Just Futures Law - Mobile Fortify
To provide information, corrections, or feedback, please email IPTP.feedback@gmail.com
Commentary
2025.09.11 Senators - Letter to ICE on Mobile Fortify
Nine Democratic Senators sent a letter to Acting ICE Director Lyons urging the agency to end its use of Mobile Fortify. They warned that biometric scanning technology is frequently biased and inaccurate, particularly against people of color, and that its use threatens privacy and free speech rights. The Senators also included a series of questions seeking details about ICE's use of Mobile Fortify and the agency's policies, practices, and procedures governing the app.
Go to article2026.01.20 BiometricUpdate - Data, quotas, and biometric surveillance are reshaping US immigration enforcement
BiometricUpdate.com reports that the use of data and biometric surveillance is reshaping U.S. immigration enforcement. ICE is using geospatial targeting tools to identify "target-rich" locations where undocumented immigrants are statistically likely to be present, and then using biometric-identification tools and license-plate scanners to determine whether people they encounter at those sites are immigration-enforcement "targets." These operations occur in public, where judicial warrants are not required.
Go to article2026.02.06 Reported: How ICE agents are using facial recognition technology to bring surveillance to the streets - NBC News
NBC News reports on growing use of facial recognition and artificial intelligence technologies by immigration officers to identify noncitizens and maintain a database of persons interacting with immigration authorities.
Go to article2026.02.06 American Immigration Council - Mission Creep: AI Surveillance at DHS Crosses Dangerous Line Into Tracking Americans
The American Immigration Council (AIC) notes that AI surveillance tools originally developed for immigration enforcement at the border are rapidly expanding into domestic policing, raising concerns about threats to civil liberties. DHS has invested millions in facial recognition, biometric scanning, social-media monitoring, and data-aggregation platforms that are now being used not only to track immigrants but also to monitor U.S. citizens, including at protests and other constitutionally protected gatherings. AIC notes that lawmakers and advocates are calling for clearer legal limits, stronger transparency requirements, and comprehensive data-privacy protections to prevent immigration enforcement from becoming a gateway to broader domestic surveillance.
Go to article2026.02.10 Just Futures Law - Mobile Fortify
Just Futures Law released an informational document on ICE's Mobile Fortify app. The document addresses what information ICE can derive from taking an individual's photo, what can occur if the app misidentifies an individual, what happens with collected data, who is being targeted with the app, and how local police use Mobile Fortify.
Go to article