White House Clears New Immigrant Biometrics Collection Rule

A US Customs and Border Protection interim final rule to set up a comprehensive biometric collection system, including use of facial recognition technology, has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget.

Current regulations allow the Department of Homeland Security to gather biometrics from immigrants and foreign travelers, but limit that collection from certain travelers and at specified locations. The forthcoming rule would allow the agency to require photographs of all visitors upon departure.

The Trump administration is finalizing the regulations amid a number of other actions by Homeland Security agencies to expand vetting and data collection of immigrants ...