⚡ What's Happening Right Now
November 2025: ICE agents have phones that scan your face and return your immigration status in seconds.
Mobile Fortify is live. You can't decline. Photos stored for 15 years even if you're a citizen.[1]
Plus they just reactivated a $2 million contract for Israeli spyware that hacks phones without clicking anything.[2]
📱 The Apps Turning Phones Into Deportation Machines
Mobile Fortify: Point, Shoot, Deport
Here's what ICE agents can do with their phones now:[3]
- Point camera at your face
- App searches CBP databases instantly
- Returns: Name, birth date, alien number, citizenship status
- Shows "Possible Overstay Status"
- Works on anyone, anywhere
DHS document obtained through FOIA makes it clear: "ICE does not provide the opportunity for individuals to decline or consent to the collection and use of biometric data."[4]
Translation: They scan your face whether you like it or not.
Mobile Identify: Now Your Local Cops Have It Too
CBP made a different version available on Google Play Store. For state and local cops working with ICE.[5]
Your town's police department can now:
- Download immigration enforcement app
- Scan faces during traffic stops
- Share data directly with ICE
- No federal oversight required
👁️ Iris Scanners: When Faces Aren't Enough
ICE's New Eye-Scanning Arsenal
ICE just bought mobile iris-scanning systems that work in seconds:[6]
- MORIS: Mobile Offender Recognition & Identification System
- I.R.I.S.: Inmate Recognition & Identification System
- Both made by BI2 Technologies
- Works in field conditions
- Matches returned in seconds
Your eyes are now your ID. Can't leave them at home.
💀 The Spyware That Hacks Your Phone From Across the Room
August 30, 2025: ICE quietly reactivated a $2 million contract with Paragon Solutions for their Graphite spyware.[7]
What Graphite Does (Everything)
Zero-Click Infection
Send a message. Target doesn't click. Phone compromised.[8]
Works through WhatsApp groups. Looks like spam. Works if ignored.
Total Access
- Read encrypted messages
- Access photos/videos
- Track real-time location
- Activate microphone
- Activate camera
"Essentially complete access to your phone" - EPIC[9]
Already Used On
- Italian journalists
- Refugee rescue workers
- Immigration activists
- WhatsApp users in Europe
90 victims confirmed by WhatsApp[10]
How ICE Got Around the Ban
Timeline of the spyware shuffle:[11]
- Sept 27, 2024: ICE signs $2M contract with Paragon
- Oct 8, 2024: White House issues stop work order
- 2025: Miami private equity buys Paragon's US arm
- Merger: Becomes part of REDLattice in Virginia
- Aug 30, 2025: Contract reactivated - now it's "American"
Executive Order 14093 bans foreign spyware. So they made it American. Problem solved.[12]
📊 The Biometric Dragnet By The Numbers
Data Retention
- 15 years: Photos stored even if no match[13]
- 75 years: Some biometric data kept
- Forever: If you're flagged as interest
Who They're Scanning
- Non-citizens (obviously)
- US citizens (can't tell by looking)
- Children (new DHS proposal)[14]
- Anyone near a target
What They're Collecting
- Facial images
- Iris scans
- Fingerprints
- Voice prints (proposed)
- DNA (proposed)[15]
🚨 Where This Tech Is Being Used
404 Media first reported Mobile Fortify's existence. Now we know it's everywhere:[16]
- Border zones: 100 miles from any border (covers 2/3 of US population)
- Raids: Workplace, home, community
- Traffic stops: Through local police partnerships
- Public spaces: Transit hubs, protests, gatherings
- Courts: Immigration proceedings
⚖️ The Constitutional Catastrophe
Your Rights (What's Left of Them)
Fourth Amendment: Supposed to protect against unreasonable searches. Scanning your face without consent? Apparently reasonable now.
Fifth Amendment: Right to remain silent. Your face speaks for you.
First Amendment: Freedom of assembly. Every protest is now a biometric collection event.
Senators Sound Alarm (November 2025)
Senator Ed Markey and three others demanded ICE stop using Mobile Fortify immediately.[17]
Their letter to ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons:
- What's the legal basis?
- How accurate is it?
- What are the policy controls?
- Why didn't you respond to our October deadline?
ICE's response: [Cricket sounds]
🎯 Who's Really At Risk
Obviously Targeted
- Undocumented immigrants
- Visa overstays
- Asylum seekers
- DACA recipients
Collateral Surveillance
- US citizens (mistaken identity)
- Mixed-status families
- Anyone at protests
- Bystanders during raids
Future Targets
- Journalists (like in Italy)
- Activists
- Lawyers
- Anyone ICE deems interesting
The same surveillance infrastructure now [targets Trump's political critics](/articles/surveillance/political-surveillance-trump-2025-critics-targeted) through Catch & Revoke and DOGE AI monitoring.
💻 The Tech Companies Enabling This
- Paragon Solutions: Israeli company, now "American" through corporate shuffling[18]
- BI2 Technologies: Iris scanning systems
- Google: Hosting Mobile Identify on Play Store
- Cellebrite: Phone cracking tools (separate ICE contract)
- Palantir: [Immigration OS for tracking](/articles/surveillance/palantir-government-surveillance-ecosystem-billions) - [$287M cumulative since 2014, plus $30M ImmigrationOS in April 2025](/articles/surveillance/palantir-immigration-machine-277-million)[19]
These tools are just pieces of [ICE's $45 million complete surveillance arsenal](/articles/surveillance/ice-surveillance-arsenal-complete-tech-stack) that includes Clearview AI facial recognition, Flock Safety license plate scanners, and data broker access.
🛡️ How to Protect Yourself (Spoiler: You Can't Fully)
Physical World
- Masks still legal in most states (for now)
- Sunglasses help with facial recognition (not iris)
- Avoid protests if undocumented
- Know your rights (they're ignoring them anyway)
- Don't consent (they don't ask anyway)
Digital Protection
- Use Signal, not WhatsApp (Graphite targets WhatsApp)
- iOS Lockdown Mode (some protection)
- GrapheneOS for Android (better than nothing)
- Separate phone for protests
- Assume every device is compromised
Legal Preparation
- Have immigration lawyer's number
- Document everything
- Know your A-number if you have one
- Prepare family for possibility of detention
📅 What's Coming Next
DHS Proposed Rule (Comment by January 2026)
New biometric collection from:[20]
- All non-citizens applying for status changes
- US citizen relatives of applicants
- Children of all ages
Types of biometrics:
- Facial images
- Iris scans
- All fingerprints
- Voice prints
- DNA samples
🌍 The Global Picture
This isn't just America. The same tech spreads:
- Italy: Used Graphite on journalists covering migration[21]
- EU: Frontex deploying similar biometric systems
- UK: Testing facial recognition at protests
- Australia: Biometric border systems expanding inland
ICE is the test lab. Your country is next.
✊ What You Can Do
Individual Actions:
- ☐ Comment on DHS biometric rule before January deadline
- ☐ Contact senators about Mobile Fortify
- ☐ Support organizations fighting this (EFF, ACLU, EPIC)
- ☐ Educate others about these tools
- ☐ Document any encounters with this tech
Community Response:
- ☐ Organize know-your-rights trainings
- ☐ Create rapid response networks
- ☐ Push local police to refuse ICE partnerships
- ☐ Demand city/state bans on facial recognition
🎯 The Reality Check
ICE has military-grade spyware, facial recognition that works in seconds, and iris scanners that can't be fooled.
They don't need warrants. They don't ask permission. They store everything for 15+ years.
This is the deportation machine 2025. Resistance means understanding the tools they're using. Now you know.
Fight back: [Learn how to defeat facial recognition](/guides/advanced/how-to-defeat-facial-recognition) with masks, head positioning, and countermeasures. [Use Signal instead of WhatsApp](/guides/basic/secure-communications-signal-guide) to protect against Graphite spyware. [Opt out of data brokers](/guides/advanced/data-broker-opt-out-guide) selling your location to ICE. Understand the [laws ICE is breaking](/articles/surveillance/ice-illegal-arrests-laws-broken-future-accountability) and why qualified immunity protects agents who violate your Fourth Amendment rights.
Related Articles
- Clearview AI: 2 Million Police Searches and Growing
- ICE's Complete Surveillance Tech Stack
- TSA-ICE Data Sharing: The Airport Deportation Pipeline
- Flock Safety: 20 Billion Scans and ICE Access
- How to Travel Without Feeding ICE
📚 References
- NPR - Immigration agents have new technology to identify and track people (Nov 8, 2025)
- TechCrunch - ICE reactivates contract with spyware maker Paragon (Sept 2, 2025)
- Biometric Update - New ICE mobile app pushes biometric policing (June 2025)
- Reason - ICE's no-refusal face-scan app (Nov 3, 2025)
- NPR - Mobile Identify on Google Play Store (2025)
- ID Tech Wire - ICE Expands Biometric Surveillance With Iris Scanning (2025)
- Infosecurity Magazine - ICE Reinstates Contract with Spyware Vendor (2025)
- Access Now - The U.S. has reactivated its Paragon contract (2025)
- EFF Statement on ICE Use of Paragon Solutions Malware (Sept 2025)
- TechCrunch - WhatsApp confirms 90 victims (2025)
- Gadget Review - ICE Quietly Reactivates $2 Million Spyware Contract (2025)
- Reason - What is ICE doing with this Israeli spyware firm? (Sept 8, 2025)
- MSNBC - ICE's biometric dragnet (2025)
- NPR - DHS proposed rule on biometrics (2025)
- Immigration Policy Tracking - ICE contracts with Paragon (2025)
- Privacy Blog - Mobile Fortify App Analysis (2025)
- Senator Markey Letter to ICE - November 3, 2025
- TechStory - ICE Acquires Israeli-Built Spyware Graphite (2025)
- KQED - Palantir's $673M ICE contracts (2025)
- NPR - DHS biometric expansion proposal (2025)
- MSNBC - Italian journalists targeted with Graphite (2025)