100,000 Face Scans: How ICE's Mobile Fortify Crossed the Line From

Security camera mounted on a concrete wall against a cloudy sky — Photo via Unsplash

TL;DR:

ICE has used Mobile Fortify more than 100,000 times since the app launched in May 2025. It scans faces against 200+ million images across DHS, FBI, and State Department databases.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is suing, alleging agents detained US citizens, scanned them without consent, and ignored evidence of citizenship when the app said otherwise.
NBC News documented agents photographing protesters at anti-ICE demonstrations with professional-grade cameras: no explanation given.
ICE signed a $9.2 million Clearview AI contract (its largest facial recognition purchase ever) plus CBP paid $225,000 for access to 60 billion scraped images.
DHS deployed the app without ever conducting a privacy impact assessment. No oversight. No audit. No limits on who gets scanned.

100,000 Scans in Less Than a Year

Mobile Fortify became operational in May 2025. ICE agents got access on May 20. In under eleven months, they've scanned more than 100,000 faces.

That number comes from the Illinois Attorney General's 103-page federal lawsuit, filed in January 2026. It's not a guess or an estimate: it's what DHS itself reported.

The app runs on government-issued smartphones. An agent points the camera at your face, captures an image, and the system queries multiple federal biometric databases simultaneously. Within seconds, it returns possible matches with names, dates of birth, and immigration status. NEC Corporation (a Japanese tech giant with a $23.9 million DHS contract) supplies the facial recognition engine under its NeoFace platform.

The databases it searches include over 200 million images: passport photos, visa applications, criminal justice records, driver's license photos, and State Department holdings. If you've ever crossed a US border, applied for a visa, or been booked by police, your face is in there.

From Immigrants to Protesters to Anyone on the Street

The American Immigration Council published a report in early 2026 with a name that says it all: "Mission Creep."

Here's the timeline:

Phase 1: Immigration enforcement. Mobile Fortify launches in May 2025. DHS says it's for identifying people in immigration custody. Fine. That's what they pitched it as.

Phase 2: Street-level encounters. By summer 2025, agents are using it during neighborhood sweeps. They scan people they stop on the street, before establishing any lawful basis for detention. The tool turns "identify first, find a reason later" into standard procedure.

Phase 3: Protest surveillance. NBC News documented ICE agents photographing activists' faces at anti-ICE demonstrations with professional-grade cameras. No explanation. No notice. Agents used these images with Mobile Fortify to identify American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.

Phase 4: Tracking Americans. The ACLU of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that forced facial scans have become routine, and that ICE purchased social media monitoring and location-tracking systems explicitly marketed for use at protests and gatherings.

A tool sold to Congress as "immigration enforcement" is now being deployed against anyone who shows up to oppose ICE operations. The American Immigration Council's report documents this slide from noncitizen identification to US citizen surveillance: no policy change, no legislative authorization, and no public disclosure along the way.

Illinois AG's Lawsuit: "Frightening, Repugnant, and Unconstitutional"

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's January 2026 lawsuit against DHS is the most detailed legal challenge to Mobile Fortify yet. Filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the 103-page complaint documents specific incidents:

The Jesus Gutierrez case: Chicago resident Jesus Gutierrez told agents he was a US citizen. He didn't have ID on him. Agents handcuffed him, placed him in an unmarked vehicle, and scanned his face using Mobile Fortify. The system confirmed his citizenship. They released him. He was never accused of any crime.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, revealed something worse: ICE officials told Congress that a Mobile Fortify match is considered "definitive," and that an agent may "ignore evidence of American citizenship, including a birth certificate" when the app says a person is undocumented.

Thompson called it "a frightening, repugnant, and unconstitutional attack on Americans' rights and freedoms."

The Illinois lawsuit also alleges:

DHS launched Mobile Fortify without conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment, a requirement under the E-Government Act
The system doesn't distinguish between citizens and noncitizens at the point of collection
All facial images and fingerprints are retained for 15 years regardless of whether the encounter results in arrest
Individuals are not given the opportunity to decline biometric capture
The scans violate the Fourth Amendment's protection against warrantless searches

Chicago joined the lawsuit. The ACLU of Minnesota filed a separate class action. Illinois is also pushing the Biometric Surveillance Act (HB 5521) that would ban police use of facial recognition statewide.

$9.2 Million for Clearview AI: The Largest FR Purchase in ICE History

Mobile Fortify isn't ICE's only facial recognition play. In September 2025, ICE awarded Clearview AI a contract worth up to $9.2 million, with $3.75 million paid upfront. It's the agency's largest facial recognition purchase ever.

Clearview's database contains over 50 billion images scraped from social media, news sites, and the open internet. Unlike Mobile Fortify (which searches government databases), Clearview lets agents match a face against basically everything ever posted publicly online.

The contract includes a one-year base period with three possible one-year extensions. The stated purpose: identifying victims and offenders in child exploitation cases and "assaults against law enforcement officers." That last category is notably vague.

Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection signed its own $225,000 Clearview AI contract in February 2026 for "tactical targeting" and "strategic counter-network analysis." Fifteen software licenses for agents at the National Targeting Center. Access to more than 60 billion publicly available images. No specification on whether searches can include US citizens. No data retention limits documented.

Between NEC's $23.9 million contract for Mobile Fortify and the combined Clearview purchases, DHS has committed over $33 million to facial recognition in less than a year.

The Accuracy Problem Nobody's Addressing

NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) has found that most facial recognition algorithms show higher error rates for women and people of color. The most accurate commercial systems make more mistakes in outdoor lighting and with moving subjects.

Mobile Fortify operates exclusively outdoors. On moving people. In uncontrolled lighting. On the streets where its error rates are highest.

At least 13 people nationwide have had criminal cases dismissed after facial recognition misidentifications led to wrongful arrests. Angela Lipps, a Tennessee grandmother, was arrested in North Dakota after an AI match connected her to bank fraud she didn't commit. She spent days in custody.

Now imagine that same technology being used 100,000+ times in less than a year, with agents told they can "ignore evidence of American citizenship" based on what the app says.

Zero Oversight, Zero Accountability

DHS deployed Mobile Fortify without:

A Privacy Impact Assessment (legally required)
A civil liberties review
An agency-wide AI audit
Public notice or comment period
Any congressional authorization for expanded use

Internal watchdogs that might have caught this have been sidelined. The DHS Inspector General's office is under-resourced. ICE's internal oversight has effectively collapsed: detention facility inspections dropped 36% in 2025 alone.

When 72 members of Congress demanded answers about ICE's surveillance purchases in March 2026, the agency's response was deadline-dodging silence. Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Tim Kaine separately demanded an investigation into DHS's surveillance technology use. Still waiting.

What You Can Do

Know your rights at protests. You're not required to identify yourself to federal agents unless you're being lawfully detained. Recording agents is legal in public spaces. But Mobile Fortify means they can identify you without asking.
Cover your face. Masks, sunglasses, and hats reduce facial recognition accuracy. It's not a guarantee, but it's a start.
Support the legal challenges. The Illinois AG's lawsuit, the ACLU class action, and EPIC's campaign to end field facial recognition are the main legal fronts.
Contact your representatives. The ICE Out of My Face Act and Thompson's biometrics bill would ban Mobile Fortify use outside ports of entry. Neither has enough co-sponsors yet.
Check if your face is in the system. If you've ever had a US passport, visa, or been booked, your photo is in the databases Mobile Fortify searches. Our facial recognition database guide can help you understand your exposure.

Sources

Published: April 12, 2026