ICE biometrics underpin broader surveillance network, report argues A coalition of privacy and civil liberties organizations says that biometric systems deployed by ICE and CBP have evolved from identity verification tools into part of a broader surveillance infrastructure. The report, The Tech Behind ICE: Oligarchs, Immigration Enforcement and the Threat to Democracy, by Mijente, Just Futures Law, and Surveillance Resistance Lab, argues that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is moving biometric and AI-driven enforcement beyond airports, ports of entry, and detention facilities into neighborhoods and immigration operations, putting privacy and civil rights at risk. Its central argument is not about a single biometric system, but the linking of face images, fingerprints, iris scans, and DNA with wider government and commercial data networks used to identify, profile, and target people. The report’s larger argument is that biometrics have become a gateway to a broader surveillance architecture. It says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can connect biometric identifiers with immigration records, social media activity, location data, vehicle records, and commercial datasets. A system built ostensibly to locate noncitizens can also reach family members, co-workers, journalists, protesters, legal observers, and others who encounter or document immigration enforcement, and has, the report warns. The authors identify privacy, consent, accuracy, and accountability as their principal concerns. They say federal oversight agencies and civil rights groups have raised questions about privacy violations, improper sharing of photographs, and errors in facial recognition systems. The report argues that facial recognition tools can reveal not only an identity in a public space, but also a person’s professional role, religious affiliation, family, and social relationships, political views, travel patterns, and home address, without consent, a warrant, or probable cause. “Critical civil rights questions remain about the impact on civil, privacy, and consumer rights