ICE Can Now ID You by Your Eyes

A $4.6 million contract gives agents instant access to 5 million iris scans from jail bookings nationwide

TL;DR: ICE signed a $4.6 million contract with Plymouth, Massachusetts-based BI2 Technologies in September 2025 for mobile iris scanning tech. The MORIS app lets agents scan someone's eyes from 10-15 inches away and get a match in under 15 seconds. The database holds 5 million records from 1.5 million people, built from jail booking photos at 247 law enforcement agencies. BI2 already gave free access to all 31 border sheriffs. ICE hasn't published a privacy impact assessment. No one knows who controls the data or how long it's kept.

The Contract: $4.6 Million for Eye Scans

On September 23, 2025, ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division signed a sole-source contract with BI2 Technologies worth up to $4.6 million [1].

What did they buy? Two pieces of software:

  • I.R.I.S. (Inmate Recognition and Identification System): A web-based database of iris scans collected during jail bookings across the country
  • MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System): A smartphone app that lets agents scan eyes in the field and query the database in real time

The contract was non-competitive. ICE signaled intent on August 6, 2025, then filed the sole-source justification later that month. BI2 was the only bidder considered [2].

This is BI2's first publicly disclosed federal contract [3].

How It Works: Sub-15-Second Identification

MORIS turns any smartphone into a biometric scanner. An agent points the phone camera at your face (specifically your eyes) from 10 to 15 inches away. The app captures your iris pattern and sends it to BI2's national database [1].

Response time? Under 15 seconds, according to procurement documents [2].

Claimed accuracy? 99 percent [2].

The app works on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. It includes liveness detection to prevent someone from holding up a photo. BI2 claims it can function from distances up to one meter, about three feet [2].

Unlike fingerprints, which can take hours to process through databases, iris scans happen almost instantly. Your eye pattern is as unique as your fingerprint, but faster to capture and match [1].

The Database: 5 Million Records from Jail Bookings

Here's what ICE gets access to: the largest national database of iris scans built specifically for law enforcement.

The numbers [1][2]:

  • 5 million+ records
  • 1.5 million+ unique individuals
  • 247 contributing law enforcement agencies
  • 100,000 new identities added monthly
  • 4.2 million iris searches performed in 2023 alone

Where do these records come from? Mostly jail bookings. When you're arrested and booked, many sheriff's offices now scan your eyes alongside fingerprints and mugshots. That scan goes into BI2's database [4].

Even if you were never convicted, even if charges were dropped, your iris pattern likely stayed in the system.

BI2's Quiet Expansion: Free Tech for Border Sheriffs

BI2 didn't build this database overnight. The Plymouth company has been expanding since 2005, one sheriff's office at a time [4].

Their strategy: give the tech away free.

In 2017, BI2 started a three-year giveaway of MORIS software to law enforcement. They've now partnered with agencies in over 180 jurisdictions [4].

In 2023, BI2 offered all 31 U.S.-Mexico border sheriffs free access to MORIS. All 31 voted to adopt it [5].

Here's the catch: even when MORIS doesn't find a match, the scan gets saved. Every iris BI2 scans goes into their private database [5].

So BI2 traded free software for millions of iris records. Now they're selling access to ICE for $4.6 million.

The Privacy Black Hole

ICE hasn't published a privacy impact assessment for the BI2 contract. That's required by law before deploying new biometric systems [2].

Nobody knows:

  • How long BI2 keeps iris records
  • Which employees can access the database
  • Whether ICE will copy records into DHS systems or just query BI2's servers
  • What happens to scans of people who turn out to be US citizens

Procurement documents reference "2.7 million iris images" from an unnamed agency, but ICE won't say which one [2].

The ACLU has filed public records requests in four border states demanding transparency about how sheriffs are using (and sharing) iris scan data [5].

Another Tool in the ICE Arsenal

MORIS joins an expanding toolkit ICE is deploying under the Trump administration's enforcement priorities. Executive Orders 14159 and 14165 emphasize rapid field identification [2].

ICE already uses:

  • Mobile Fortify: Facial recognition against 1.2 billion DHS images
  • Palantir ELITE: AI targeting platform assigning "confidence scores" to enforcement targets
  • Thomson Reuters license plate database: 20 billion plate scans from public and private cameras
  • Penlink Webloc: Cell phone location tracking through commercial data

Now add: iris scanning that works in seconds, powered by a database of jail bookings from nearly 250 agencies.

Rachel Levinson-Waldman, director of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program, told reporters: "What we are seeing now is a massive jump forward in the expansion of this technology and in the ways it is being used" [6].

Who Gets Their Eyes Scanned?

The ACLU warns iris scanning will "disproportionately affect those already targeted by the Trump Administration's policies" [5].

The concern: racial profiling. Agents might demand iris scans from anyone who looks or sounds "foreign," scanning Latinos, Spanish speakers, and people of color at higher rates [5].

Unlike facial recognition, where your photo might already exist in government databases, iris scans require active participation. An agent has to get within a foot of your face and point a camera at your eyes.

What triggers a scan? What probable cause is required? Can you refuse at a traffic stop? At your door?

Nobody has published guidelines. The deployment happened, in the ACLU's words, "in near-secrecy" [5].

What You Can Do

There's no foolproof defense against biometric surveillance. But know your rights:

  • You can refuse to answer questions from immigration agents (Fifth Amendment)
  • You don't have to consent to searches without a warrant (Fourth Amendment)
  • Ask if you're being detained (if not, you can leave)
  • Film encounters if you can do so safely
  • Contact the ACLU if you believe your rights were violated: aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights

The legal status of forced biometric scans in the field remains unsettled. Courts haven't ruled definitively on whether agents can compel iris scans without a warrant.

Sources

  1. Boston Globe: "ICE ups investment in surveillance technology with $4.5 million contract with Mass. tech firm" (January 28, 2026)
  2. Biometric Update: "Sole source contract to Bi2 expands ICE's use of biometric surveillance" (September 2025)
  3. 404 Media: "ICE Is Buying Mobile Iris Scanning Tech for Its Deportation Arm" (2025)
  4. Plymouth Independent: "Plymouth firm's app lets ICE identify people through eye scans" (2026)
  5. ACLU: "Why Are Border Sheriffs Rushing to Adopt Iris-Recognition Technology?"
  6. Washington Post: "The powerful tools in ICE's arsenal to track suspects and protesters" (February 2, 2026)