DHS seeks vast expansion of biometrics collection for immigration benefits

The Department of Homeland Security wants to ramp up its collection of biometrics of individuals applying for immigration benefits, proposing a rule Monday that would expand the agency’s authority to take in fingerprints, DNA, facial and iris scans, and other data.

In a notice of proposed rulemaking published to the Federal Register, DHS said it wants to “amend its regulations governing biometrics use and collection” by broadening its authorities in cases of “alien arrest,” in addition to codifying and expanding DNA testing, use and storage.

Under current law, DHS can collect biometrics “from any applicant, petitioner, sponsor, beneficiary, requestor, or individual filing or associated with a benefit request, other request, or collection of information” tied to the enforcement of immigration and naturalization laws, according to the posting. 

Current rules are “only mandatory for certain benefit requests and enforcement actions,” the posting notes — a fact that DHS aims to change with the new rule. 

“DHS has determined that it is necessary to expand its routine biometric collections to include individuals associated with immigration benefit requests or other requests or collection of information, and to perform other functions related to administering and enforcing the immigration and naturalization laws, such as verifying identity,” the posting states.

The proposed rule would vastly broaden the scope of the agency’s authorities, opening up biometrics collections to “U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and lawful permanent residents,” regardless of age, “unless DHS otherwise exempts the requirement.”

Those changes will “assist DHS’s efforts to combat trafficking, confirm the results of biographical criminal history checks, and deter fraud,” the posting states.

Immigrant benefit applicants may also be required to submit to DNA testing to confirm eligibility. As an example, the posting said DNA may be requested to “prove or disprove an individual’s biological sex in instances where that determination will impact benefit eligibility.”

Broadly speaking, biometrics would also be used for “identity management in the immigration lifecycle” under the proposed rule, fueling the agency’s transition to a “person-centric model” in verifying immigration records and managing identities. 

“Critically, it will also allow DHS to reduce reliance on biographic data for identity management,” the posting said. “In general, biographic data is associated with an individual and is not intrinsically unique to that individual, at least as such biographic data relates to identification.”

Immigrants living in the country legally “may be required to submit biometrics” after getting approval for benefits until they become citizens. If a U.S. citizen or other lawful permanent resident files a benefit request on behalf of an immigrant, they too would be subject to biometrics submissions. Family-based visa petitions could also trigger the collection of biometric data.

These and other changes to the rule, DHS said in the posting, reflect an “expanded scope of populations” that would also be “pertinent” to Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.

DHS also aims to scrap the “presumption of good moral character” clause for benefit applications 14 or younger. 

“The rule proposes that such applicants submit biometrics that USCIS will use in the determination of good moral character and provides USCIS with the authority to require additional evidence of good moral character,” the posting states. “The proposed changes would remove the superfluous need for police clearance letters from T nonimmigrant adjustment applicants.”

The Trump administration hinted at an expansion of biometrics collection months ago, starting with the arrival of Department of Government Efficiency associates at DHS’s Office of Biometric Identity Management. That office manages a database of fingerprint, facial, and iris data used throughout the federal government.

Sources told FedScoop in May that DOGE representatives were examining the agency’s Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) program, a cloud-based database that was meant to replace the decades-old Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).

FedScoop later reported that the White House was in the process of reviewing the country’s biometrics operation, with national security adviser Stephen Miller and others leading the charge.

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, continue to sound alarms over the technology DHS is using on immigration enforcement. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts on Monday led a letter with other Senate Democrats to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, re-upping a request for information about the agency’s deployment of a biometric mobile phone application to identify people via facial recognition. 

“As we explained in our September letter, this expanded use of FRT creates serious privacy and civil liberties risks,” the lawmakers wrote. “Given this new reporting, we are reiterating our demand that ICE immediately cease using this app and renew our request for answers to our questions about ICE’s policies and practices surrounding the use of biometric technology.”