Oct 30
2025
U.S. stepping up surveillance of travelers at border
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The Department of Homeland Security quietly announced this week plans to step up the surveillance of travelers entering and leaving the United States by foot, car, airplane or boat.
Plans include implementing a facial recognition system in the coming months for those entering the country. Participation is mandatory for non-citizens. U.S. citizens may opt out, but the Department of Homeland Security warns doing so could cause delays or other disruptions to a person’s travel.
The system has been tested at select border crossings since 2018, including the Peace Bridge. Plans include later expanding the system to those leaving the country, as well.
Facial recognition cameras previously installed at the Peace Bridge. Photo via Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
The system, as described in a federal rulemaking publication, will use cameras to capture the faces of anyone entering or exiting the country and compare that image to passport photos and other images of that person already contained in a federal database. Travelers over age 79 and children younger than 14 will no longer be exempted from facial recognition.
The initiative is an extension of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration into the United States, but will primarily affect American, Canadian and Mexican citizens, as they represent the vast majority of those crossing the U.S. border. The new process will have a particular impact on those traveling between Western New York and Ontario given the four bridges that link them in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Lewiston. In addition, Buffalo’s airport is popular with Canadian travelers.
Mark Bartholomew, a law professor at the University at Buffalo who studies privacy issues, said the new system could make inspections more efficient.
“But I think we always have to worry about trading a little bit of efficiency for our privacy rights,” he said.
Others question the accuracy of the technology, saying it routinely produces false matches for women and people of color, leading to discriminatory practices.
The process goes well beyond what Canadian authorities employ at border crossings.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Border Services Agency told Investigative Post the agency only uses a facial recognition system for international air travelers at select airports. That system, as described in an agency memo captures an image of a person’s face that is compared to their travel documents. Anyone “flagged” by the system has their documents inspected manually.
“If a traveller does not want to use the kiosks, there is still the option to present themselves to a border services officer,” said CBSA spokesperson Luke Reimer. “The CBSA does not use facial recognition technology to conduct surveillance at the border.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, said the rollout of the program is an example of the Trump administration’s “disregard [for] constitutional rights and privacy protections.”
“This step is another example of the administration’s authoritarian overreach,” he said in a statement to Investigative Post. The Department of Homeland Security “must not use these technologies to build a surveillance state that deters travel and targets migrants, asylum seekers, and U.S. citizens alike.”
How the new system will work
According to the federal rule-making publication, parts of the new system are already in place. The government will accept public comment through the end of November and then begin the nationwide implementation by the end of December.
For entering the United States, the new system as proposed will work like this:
- A camera will capture the faces of drivers and passengers crossing the border by auto or by foot or bike and an inspections agent will compare those images against their travel documents. Once fully implemented, border agents will be able to compare the image with those contained in a federal database.
- A camera will also capture the facial images of those traveling internationally by airplane, bus or boat. Agents already have the ability to compare those images with those contained in a federal database.
Regardless of the mode of travel, people will be permitted entry if their images match. Otherwise, an agent will perform a manual review of a person’s travel documents.
The proposed federal rules for those leaving the United States call for photographing drivers and passengers in cars “when staffing permits.” Those traveling by air or water will have their faces scanned and compared against “historical photo templates in the cloud-based gallery.”
For Canadian and other non-citizens entering the country, the federal government will store images of their faces — along with other information maintained on the person — for 75 years. For U.S. citizens, images will be stored for 12 hours and then deleted.
U.S. citizens, according to the Homeland Security publication, have the right to opt out of having their photo taken and stored in the government’s system. Should they so request, the publication states that an airport or bridge agent will “perform a manual review” of a person’s passport, which is the current practice.
The Department of Homeland Security warns, however, that asking to opt out of the facial recognition system could cause travel delays. That could mean car searches and missed flights, the agency stated.
“U.S. citizens have alleged that they have been referred to secondary inspection or told they would not be able to board because they declined biometrics,” the federal rulemaking publication states.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection — the Homeland Security agency implementing the new system — said facial recognition software will be a more accurate way to verify a person’s identity and citizenship than a manual passport check.
“CBP must be able to conclusively determine whether a person is in fact a U.S. citizen or national, or an alien by verifying that the person is the true bearer of his or her travel documentation,” said Hilton Beckham, assistant commissioner for CBP public affairs.
“Manual review of passports has historically been used to carry out this responsibility, but facial comparison technology can do so with greater consistency and accuracy.”
Privacy concerns
In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, the 9/11 Commission recommended the newly-created Department of Homeland Security begin collecting biometric data — such as fingerprint scans — on all non-citizens entering the country.
At the time, explained Jeramie Scott — senior counsel and director of the Surveillance Oversight Program at the watchdog group Electronic Privacy Information Center — facial recognition technology was still nascent. A handful of law enforcement agencies used it for limited purposes but it was not ubiquitous as it is today. Now, facial recognition software is in everything from iPhones to the self-checkout lane at Target.
Customs and Border Protection first began piloting the technology at the southern border in 2018 and expanded the tests last year to the Peace Bridge, which links Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario. The Peace Bridge became a testing ground, the agency said in a news release, so that it could “assess how the facial biometric technology performs in a challenging winter environment.”
Bartholomew, the University at Buffalo law professor, said the new facial recognition system raises privacy concerns.
“I don’t like it,” he said. “I think there are some dangers here.”
The system is nevertheless likely legal. Generally, he said, capturing an image of a person’s face when they’re in a public place does not violate their privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment. Also, national security agencies like Customs and Border Protection enjoy expanded powers at or near a border crossing.
A Constitutional violation may only arise, he said, if the government’s system routinely produces false matches that lead to searches and seizures of a person’s property.
“At least in the initial instance, I think they can use it as leverage for doing those secondary kinds of inspections,” he said.
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Scott, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said there’s no way to know if the government will actually delete citizen’s data as it pledges it will do.
“I don’t know if they actually do that,” he said. “And, you know, given the current administration’s … negative feelings, if you will, towards oversight, I don’t know if we’ll see an oversight body properly audit whether that’s being done or not.”
Like Scott, Bartholomew said there’s a worry the government won’t delete images of a citizen’s face within 12 hours like CBP says it will.
“We’ve all heard stories of this promise to delete and it not happening,” he said. “I would just say that history makes me worry.”
Both Scott and Bartholomew warned that a government facial recognition system could one day be joined with other databases which could be used to track the movements and behaviors of citizens and non-citizens alike. That could one day include social media, Scott said.
“It’s not a stretch to think that it’ll be connected to the information associated with identity verification at a port of entry,” he said.
Upcoming: Our Nov. 5 event on ICE and immigration
