(Washington, D.C., Oct. 26, 2019) - Starting December 26 of this year, all non-citizens will be required to undergo facial recognition and photographs upon entry and exit of the United States.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the new regulations on Friday (October 24) to combat visa overstays and passport fraud.
U.S. Customs will require all non-U.S. citizens to have their photographs taken and filed at airports, seaports, land ports, and other points of entry and exit, and to provide additional biometric information, such as fingerprints or DNA, as necessary.
U.S. Customs has been collecting biometric data from certain non-citizens entering the country since 2004, and the new regulations expand this data collection. Children under 14 and people over 79 will also be required to undergo facial recognition starting at the end of this year, having previously been exempt.
U.S. authorities will use facial recognition technology to compare photos of people entering and leaving the country with photos in their passports or visa applications to verify that they are the true holders of the documents.
However, the failure rate of facial recognition technology has drawn concern from civil rights organizations. A report released by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2024 pointed out that facial recognition systems have a significantly higher error rate when identifying minority groups.
