June 5, 2021- 1:00 p.m.
A controversial facial recognition app is being used to try to clear a backlog of tens of thousands of immigration cases at the US-Mexico border.
Asylum seekers are being encouraged to submit their biographic and biometric information through the app to Customs and Border Protection, allowing it to use facial recognition software to verify their information and determine whether asylum seekers will be allowed to enter the United States.
Officials with the US Customs and Border Protection have begun processing asylum seekers’ with the CBP One app, which uses facial recognition, geolocation and cloud technology to speed up cases, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The administration claims its ‘smart border’ strategy will be more effective than the Trump administration’s border walls and immigration restrictions. It’s part of the administration’s $1.2 billion plan to ‘modernize’ border control.
It comes as the crisis at the border is unrelenting, with 110,000 single adults trying to cross in April alone – the highest number in a decade.
Some privacy advocates say the app raises concerns about privacy and data collection by the government on vulnerable migrants.
Ashley Gorski, senior attorney at the ACLU National Security Project, told The Times use of the CBP One app poses ‘enormous risks to privacy and is another step down a dangerous path’.
‘Whenever the government acquires a person’s faceprint, it creates a risk of persistent surveillance, where the government could identify and track people’s movements without their knowledge.’
Another border expert told the Times the app was a sensible step to improve the backlog at the border.
Andrew Farrelly, a former Customs and Border Protection official, said there was an ‘incredible amount of pressure’ on the border and the Department of Homeland Security to deal with the claims.
‘Applying technology is a way to do that.’
The Department of Homeland Security has been granted emergency approval to use the app to process users’ information in advance of their arrival in the United States.
This clearance from the Office of Management and Budget allowed it to bypass the usual public notification process required before it launches a new program.
Last week the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed he was asking lawmakers for $1.2 billion to remake the immigration system with modern ports of entry, greater emphasis on technology at the border, and ensuring the ‘safe, orderly, and humane treatment of migrants.’
The White House and Homeland Security declined to comment.
But this week, the Biden administration formally ended a Trump-era immigration policy that forced asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.
Biden also asked Congress to pass legislation which would provide a way for an estimated 11 million undocumented people to legally stay in the United States.
