Overview
- New court filings and reporting describe ICE and CBP agents using the Mobile Fortify app to perform facial recognition and contactless fingerprint scans during enforcement operations and protest monitoring.
- In a sworn declaration, Minnesota resident Nicole Cleland says an agent identified her by name using facial recognition, warned her for “impeding,” and three days later DHS revoked her Global Entry and TSA PreCheck despite no arrest or charge.
- The Cleland account is part of a federal lawsuit, and DHS has declined to discuss individual revocations while characterizing Mobile Fortify as a lawful law enforcement tool used nationwide.
- CBP policy allows trusted traveler status to be revoked through continuous vetting or based on being under investigation, which does not require a criminal conviction or arrest.
- Current and former officials describe a broader surveillance toolkit that includes license plate readers, social media monitoring, cellphone location data, drones, and data-analysis systems, and reporting notes that some revocations are overturned on appeal.