State and local law enforcement officers working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement have access to a mobile facial-recognition application that can verify a person's identity and immigration status against more than 250 million federal records, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document.
The document, an ICE Privacy Threshold Analysis approved in September 2025, outlines the ICE Task Force Module, a mobile app developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The app is available to authorized law enforcement officers participating in ICE operations.
According to the document, officers in the field can use the app during encounters with individuals by taking a photograph and comparing it against records contained in DHS and State Department databases through the Traveler Verification Service.
The system is designed to help officers verify identity and determine immigration status, including whether an individual may be subject to removal proceedings.
The privacy assessment states that local and state officers working with ICE would use the app to identify "the target of an operation" and confirm immigration status through facial recognition technology.
Query results would either instruct officers not to detain or arrest an individual under ICE jurisdiction or provide a reference code that can be used to obtain additional information from ICE.
The document says the only information directly submitted through the app is a facial photograph and associated metadata, including geolocation information indicating where the encounter took place.
The photographs are not stored on officers' devices but are retained in DHS systems.
According to the privacy review, every photograph submitted through the system is treated as an encounter record and retained in the Automated Targeting System for 15 years, regardless of whether it results in a match.
The document also acknowledges that photographs of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents could be collected because officers may not know a person's citizenship status when an image is captured.
ICE's Privacy Office classified the app as "privacy sensitive" and determined that existing privacy impact assessments and records-notice requirements covering DHS biometric databases provide sufficient oversight.
The review concluded that the app is covered by existing privacy protections governing the Traveler Verification Service and the Automated Targeting System.