New rule allows US border agents to photograph non-citizens at all points of entry and exit into the country
Travelers pass through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security check at Hollywood Burbank Airport on the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown in Burbank, California, U.S., October 1, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS
The United States will expand the use of facial recognition technology to track non-citizens entering and leaving the country in an effort to combat visa overstays and passport fraud, according to a government document released Friday.
A new regulation will allow U.S. border officials to require noncitizens to be photographed at airports, seaports, land crossings and other departure points, expanding an earlier pilot program.
Under the regulation, which is due to come into force on December 26, US authorities could also require the submission of other biometric data such as fingerprints or DNA. It allows border authorities to use facial recognition for children under 14 and people over 79, groups that are currently exempt.
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The tougher border rules reflect a broader effort by U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration. While the Republican president has increased resources to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, he has also taken steps to reduce the number of people overstaying their visas.
The growing use of facial recognition at U.S. airports has raised privacy concerns among watchdog groups worried about government overreach and misidentification. A 2024 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights said tests showed facial recognition systems were more likely to misidentify black people and other minority groups.
The Congressional Research Service estimated in 2023 that about 42% of the 11 million immigrants living illegally in the United States had overstayed their visas.
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Congress passed a law in 1996 requiring the creation of an automated entry and exit system, but it was never fully implemented. U.S. Customs and Border Protection already uses facial recognition for all commercial air entry, but only records exits at certain locations, the regulation states.
CBP estimates that a biometric entry and exit system could be fully implemented at all commercial airports and seaports, for both entry and exit, within three to five years.
