Markey, Jayapal, Merkley, Wyden Introduce Bill to Ban ICE and CBP Use of Facial Recognition Technology Amid Trump’s Rapidly Growing Surveillance State

Washington (February 5, 2026) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) introduced the ICE Out of My Face Act, bicameral legislation that would ban ICE and CPB from acquiring and using facial recognition technology (FRT) and other biometric identification systems. The ICE Out of My Face Act would also require the deletion of all data collected for use in or by biometric identification systems and allow individuals and state attorneys general to seek civil penalties for violations.

“ICE and CBP agents are using facial recognition technologies to track, target, and surveil individuals across the country,” said Senator Markey. “The Trump administration isn’t deploying these tools to maintain public safety. They are doing so to silence lawful speech and to punish dissent. I’m proud to introduce the ICE Out of Our Faces Act to stop this unaccountable, authoritarian use of facial recognition technologies. Big Brother has no place in a democracy, and we will not allow these Orwellian tools to take root here.”

“We are at an incredibly dangerous moment in this country, where overzealous and overly violent ICE and Border Patrol agents are increasing their use of biometric identification systems. This has become a surveillance state with militarized federal troops on our streets to terrorize and intimidate US citizens and residents alike. We must urgently pass the ICE Out of My Face Act to stop the proliferation of this technology, protect our communities, and protect our democracy,” said Representative Jayapal.

“For years, I’ve been ringing the alarm bells about the dangers of a national surveillance state built on facial recognition technology. Now, we’re seeing Trump’s lawless federal agents deploy this technology on our streets across the nation as he tries to tighten his authoritarian grip,” said Senator Merkley. “Without oversight, this technology is dangerous in the hands of any government, and the Trump Administration is abusing it to trample on privacy, freedom of speech, and civil liberties. All freedom-loving Americans must join us to stand up to this assault on folks’ fundamental rights.”

“ICE and CBP have trampled on our Constitution when they build databases of regular people concerned about ICE committing violence in their communities or scan the faces of people on the street to run through their surveillance systems. I’m glad to work with Senator Markey to protect Americans against harassment and biometric surveillance by Trump’s handpicked militia,” said Senator Wyden.

The ICE Out of Our Faces Act is co-sponsored by Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The legislation is endorsed by Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Fight for the Future, American Civil Liberties Union, The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology, Free Press Action, Access Now, and Human Rights First.

“It’s past time for the federal government to end its use of this abusive surveillance technology. A great place to start is its use for immigration enforcement, given ICE and CBP’s utter disdain for the law. Face surveillance in the hands of the government is a fundamentally harmful technology, even under strict regulations or if the technology was 100% accurate. We thank the authors of this bill for their leadership in taking steps to end this use of this dangerous and invasive technology,” said India McKinney, Director of Federal Affairs at Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

“Facial recognition is a dangerous and invasive surveillance technology, particularly in the hands of an agency that is cavalier with the law, lacks transparency, and avoids oversight. ICE’s use of facial recognition is ripe for abuse and undermines our privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights. The ICE Out of Our Faces Act is a step towards stopping the growing surveillance infrastructure that is undermining Americans’ Constitutional rights, and EPIC is proud to support it,” said Jeramie D. Scott, Senior Counsel & Director, EPIC Surveillance Oversight Program.

“Facial recognition creates a broad, warrantless hoard of surveillance data that can instantly be weaponized for intimidation and oppression. It has no place in a free society and we will continue to fight to see it banned in every arena: ICE agents should be banned from using it; city and state governments including law enforcement should be banned from using it; and businesses should be banned from using it in all places of public accommodation. We cannot let this regime of data-supercharged fascist witness intimidation become the new normal. It is time to ban facial recognition for good and banning ICE from using it is a great start,” said Lia Holland, Campaigns & Communications Director at Fight for the Future.

“Since Congress gave ICE and Border Patrol hundreds of billions of dollars in unnecessary funding last year, the Trump administration has doubled down on the use of shadowy surveillance technology to supercharge its lawless and violent immigration operations,” said Kate Voigt, Senior Policy Counsel at the ACLU. “The Department of Homeland Security’s use of such biased and error-prone technology to go after our communities and to scare people speaking out against ICE’s abuses is disgusting and blatantly illegal. It’s vital that Congress pass the ICE Out of Our Faces Act as soon as possible, and that our leaders use their funding power to rein in these out-of-control agencies.”

“No matter where we’re from or the color of our skin, we should all be able to move freely in our communities without the fear of being spied on by our own government. But right now, facial recognition and other biometric surveillance tools are being used to carry out violent immigration enforcement. The ICE Out of Our Faces Act is essential to start reigning in a growing and unaccountable surveillance state aimed squarely at immigrant communities, communities of color, and people speaking up for their neighbors and loved ones. No administration should be able to weaponize technology against us,” said Alejandra Montoya-Boyer, Vice President of The Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology.

“Biometric surveillance poses an urgent threat to our fundamental rights. Facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technologies have been used by authoritarian regimes around the world to target journalists, protestors, and marginalized communities; they are increasingly central to infrastructures of mass surveillance and criminalization. We are watching these abuses evolve as DHS pours more money into expanding its own surveillance dragnet — including mobile facial recognition tools that ICE and Border Patrol agents are using to profile, track and target people in the street. The ICE Out of Our Faces Act interrupts this trajectory and is a critical step towards safeguarding our communities and our rights,” said Jenna Ruddock, Advocacy Director at Free Press Action.

“At a time of increasingly lawless actions by ICE, we are grateful for Senator Markey taking concrete steps to implement accountability measures to protect our communities with the introduction of the ‘ICE Out of Our Faces Act.’ No government official should be able to hide behind masks while violating our fundamental rights with impunity. Our privacy and security, regardless of our race, nationality, or citizenship, should not be compromised by such dangerous anti-immigrant agendas, as we have seen acted out on the streets of Minneapolis. This bill inserts crucial guardrails for protecting our democracy and we urge Congress to act swiftly to pass this legislation,” said Robyn Barnard, Senior Director of Refugee Advocacy at Human Rights First.

Senator Markey is leading efforts to hold ICE and DHS accountable for their gross violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights and their weaponization of surveillance technologies against peaceful protestors, immigrants, and American citizens.

1. This week, Senator Markey wrote to ICE’s Acting Director Todd Lyons demanding that Lyons immediately confirm or deny reports that the agency is maintaining a so-called “domestic terrorists” database to track individuals protesting ICE activities. 
2. In November, Senator Markey wrote to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, urging the agency to immediately cease using a system of license plate readers (LPRs) and predictive algorithms to monitor the movements of individual Americans. CBP is reportedly using the system to “identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.”
3. Also in November, Senator Markey led his colleagues in requesting that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cease the use of their biometric phone application known as Mobile Fortify following a previous unanswered request.
4. In September, Senator Markey wrote to ICE’s Acting Director Todd Lyons, demanding that ICE cease use of Mobile Fortify and requesting detailed information about its policies and practices surrounding the use of biometric technology.
5. In July, Senator Markey, along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Schiff (D-Calif.), sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) recent usage of Predator drones and aerial surveillance against peaceful protesters in Los Angeles. In the letter, the senators raised concerns about the threat to the protesters’ privacy and their constitutional rights that are guaranteed by the First Amendment.
6. In June, Senators Markey and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote two letters to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary Noem about the government’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to determine whether an individual poses a national security risk.

Issues: Civil Rights, Immigration