1. United States
  2. N.Y.
  3. Letter

Ban ICE Smart Glasses With Real-Time Facial Recognition

To: Sen. Gillibrand, Sen. Schumer, Rep. Mannion

From: A verified voter in Syracuse, NY

April 25

I need you to block funding for ICE's $7.5 million smart glasses program and prohibit federal agencies from deploying real-time biometric surveillance technology without warrants. DHS plans to roll out these glasses by September 2027, giving agents the power to identify anyone on the street using facial recognition and gait analysis without stopping them or requesting ID. This isn't about immigration enforcement. A DHS attorney warned internally that this technology "affects all Americans, particularly protestors." The glasses connect to databases holding 75 million biometric records, including driver's license photos, travel records, and commercial data broker information. ICE already detained at least 170 U.S. citizens using their current Mobile Fortify app, which collects and stores photos of everyone scanned, not just matches. The technology has serious accuracy problems. NIST testing shows higher false-match rates for Black individuals and women. At least 14 people have been wrongfully arrested due to facial recognition errors, with one person spending six months in jail. Meanwhile, ICE agents in six states have already been caught using Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses during operations since January 2025, violating DHS policy. Over 20 U.S. jurisdictions have banned local police from using facial recognition. Federal agencies shouldn't get a free pass to surveil Americans without probable cause.

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