DHS Expands DNA Storage and Facial Scans Across Immigration System

(UNITED STATES) The Department of Homeland Security moved to dramatically widen biometric screening across the immigration system, proposing and finalizing measures that will collect DNA, facial recognition scans, fingerprints, iris scans, voiceprints, and other data from a far larger pool of people.

Starting December 26, 2025, a final rule requires facial photo collection and comparison for all non-U.S. citizens when they enter or leave the country at airports, seaports, and land crossings, including travelers from Canada 🇨🇦 who were previously exempt from some collections. A separate proposed rule, published in early November with a 60-day comment period, would remove age limits and expand data collection to nearly anyone tied to immigration benefits or enforcement—immigrants, sponsors, and even U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents associated with filings.

DHS rationale and planned rollout

DHS officials say the widened checks are meant to:

• Improve identity confirmation
• Prevent fraud in benefit applications
• Strengthen security vetting

The agency frames the biometric expansion as a modernization push that aligns systems across components, allowing data to be reused for identity checks, benefit processing, border inspections, and background vetting with fewer gaps. Facial recognition will anchor the entry-exit system and, over time, will be the default for confirming identity for arriving and departing noncitizens.

According to agency materials, the technology rollout at ports will continue through 2026 and beyond as new lanes, kiosks, and airline partnerships come online across the United States 🇺🇸.

DNA collection and age limits

One of the most debated changes is the planned DNA collection.

Key points in the proposal:

• DHS could collect DNA to confirm claimed family relationships and to combat fraud in certain immigration benefit categories.
• DNA collection would not be limited to suspected fraud cases and could cover broad benefit scenarios where a family link is part of eligibility.
• The proposal removes earlier age limits on biometrics, meaning infants and children under 14 could be asked to provide fingerprints, facial scans, iris scans, or DNA when connected to an immigration request or action.

Officials argue that removing age thresholds prevents loopholes and brings consistency to screening across diverse case types.

Continuous vetting, data reuse, and sharing

The proposal also outlines continuous vetting and wider data reuse:

• Ongoing, automated checks would use fingerprints, facial images, and other records for noncitizens granted immigration benefits, continuing through their time in the country and ending at naturalization.
• Collected biometrics could be stored and shared with federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as the intelligence community, to support immigration cases and national security vetting.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the combination of continuous vetting, DNA collection, and expanded facial recognition at ports marks one of the most far-reaching changes to immigration screening in decades.

Reactions: advocacy groups, privacy concerns, and legal challenges

Immigration advocates and privacy groups reacted with alarm, characterizing the plan as a step toward a national surveillance system that disproportionately affects people of color and immigrant communities.

Their concerns include:

• The framework gives the department too much power to gather, store, and share sensitive data — including children’s genetic information — without clear limits.
• DNA collection risks sweeping in large numbers of families with no history of fraud, placing genetic data into widely shared systems.
• Facial recognition systems have shown higher error rates for some demographic groups, raising bias and misuse concerns.
• Calls for strict limits on retention, narrow sharing rules, and clear deletion timelines, especially for children’s data.

Lawsuits in recent years have pushed DHS to disclose more details about DNA collection, which has grown since 2020 under separate authorities. These debates are expected to feature heavily in public comments and potential court challenges.

“The proposed framework gives the department too much power to gather, store, and share sensitive data,” say rights groups, particularly worried about genetic information of children.

Public comment process and DHS response

Public comment is likely to focus on the above privacy and civil-rights concerns during the 60-day window for the proposed rule. DHS invites input on:

• Categories of data to be collected
• Retention periods
• The scope of who must submit biometrics

DHS maintains the expansion is necessary to fix a patchwork of rules that left gaps for certain ages, case types, or nationalities and to bring standards up to date with tools used at ports and in background checks. The agency points to existing privacy impact assessments, records schedules, and security protocols for biometric systems as safeguards.

However, the pushback highlights a growing divide between the government’s drive for more data and civil society’s demand for stronger limits.

What travelers will notice first

Travelers will see changes earliest at ports of entry. As the facial recognition final rule takes effect on December 26, 2025:

• Airlines and cruise lines will expand the use of cameras at boarding gates and arrival areas to capture live photos and compare them to gallery images from passports or prior travel records.
• Land border crossings will add facial capture to existing lanes, with adjustments to traffic flow.
• DHS says the process is quick and may reduce document checks, since the system can confirm identity in seconds.

While U.S. citizens are not subject to the exit and entry facial rule, mixed-status families and groups that include noncitizens will likely pass through facial capture zones together, underscoring the reach of the technology.

Effects inside the immigration system

U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents will also feel the change when tied to benefit requests:

• Sponsors and petitioners could be asked for biometrics under the proposed rule even if they are not seeking immigration benefits themselves.
• DHS argues confirming the identity of all parties helps stop identity theft and supports more reliable decisions.
• Broader biometrics for petitioners may speed future processing by allowing data reuse across related cases, cutting repeat appointments and redundant checks.

Modalities, scope, and limits DHS describes

DHS emphasizes interoperability and varied biometric modalities:

• Fingerprints, facial images, and DNA collected once can feed multiple checks, reducing errors and improving matches.
• Expanded tools such as voiceprints and iris or retina scans would be available in specific contexts, but not every case will involve every modality.
  • Example: facial recognition is central at borders, while DNA collection is tied to situations where genetic links matter.

The presence of these tools in the rule does not mean they will be used in every interaction; DHS aims to have them available and authorized across the system.

Legal, ethical, and technical debates

Civil rights lawyers warn that the scale of expansion increases risks of:

• Misuse
• Bias
• Mission creep

Specific concerns:

• Facial recognition accuracy varies across demographic groups, though vendors and agencies say accuracy has improved.
• DNA reveals family connections and sensitive health-related markers, even if DHS says it will use DNA only for identity and relationship checks.
• Rights groups demand narrow sharing rules and strict deletion policies, particularly for children’s data.

These issues are expected to be central in public comments, congressional oversight, and litigation.

Timeline and next steps

• The border facial recognition rule is final and operative starting December 26, 2025, with deployment continuing into 2026 as DHS, airlines, cruise lines, and port authorities upgrade systems.
• The broader biometrics proposal, released in early November 2025, remains open for public comment for 60 days. DHS will review submissions, possibly revise the proposal, and then publish a final rule.
• DHS has not set a fixed implementation date for the full program, but several elements—especially port facial capture—are moving ahead on schedule.

Guidance for travelers and where to find more information

DHS is asking the public to weigh in on the balance between security and privacy and points to materials explaining how facial recognition works in travel settings and what alternatives exist for travelers who do not wish to be photographed.

• CBP Biometrics outlines biometric entry-exit and privacy controls, including opt-out options for U.S. citizens in some settings and signage requirements at gates.
• Travelers are urged to review these policies before the holiday travel season and into 2026 as the expansion takes hold.

For official details on port processing and biometric travel programs, CBP provides updates on its website at CBP Biometrics.

Broader policy divide and who is affected

Supporters say global threats and identity fraud demand stronger tools and note many countries are moving toward wider biometrics for travel and immigration. They argue that linking biometric checks across cases will help officers spot fake documents and identity swaps.

Opponents counter:

• The government has not proven the need to include children or to collect DNA so broadly.
• They want Congress to set tighter limits.

Affected groups—from mixed-status families to frequent cross-border travelers—are bracing for a new normal in which facial recognition captures the moment of arrival and departure, and biometric checks reach deeper into everyday immigration filings.

Final scope and implications

What is clear is the scope of the DHS biometric expansion:

• It covers almost every stage of the immigration journey, from the moment a traveler approaches a checkpoint to the years a noncitizen spends in the United States until naturalization.
• It reaches beyond applicants to touch sponsors and petitioners.
• It brings Canadians into the same border facial screening as other noncitizens.
• It places DNA collection on the table as a routine tool for claims that depend on family ties.
• It builds in continuous vetting that does not stop at the approval notice.

The public, lawmakers, and the courts will now test how far the government can go in gathering, storing, and sharing this data, and where the limits should sit in a country that promises both safety and privacy.