Support the ICE Out of My Face Act to Ban Biometric Surveillance

I am writing to urge you to support the ICE Out of My Face Act, legislation led by Senator Ed Markey with co-sponsors including Senator Merkley, Senator Wyden, and Representative Jayapal. This bill would ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection from using biometric surveillance systems, particularly facial recognition technology. According to the Wall Street Journal, immigration agents have already scanned faces approximately 100,000 times. This widespread deployment has real consequences. 404 Media reported that the technology has already misidentified at least one person, demonstrating the immediate harm this surveillance poses to innocent people. Facial recognition technology is fundamentally dangerous regardless of accuracy levels or regulatory frameworks. When deployed by agencies that have demonstrated repeated disregard for legal constraints, including recent lawless actions in Minnesota involving both physical violence and digital rights violations, the risks multiply exponentially. ICE and CBP have shown a pattern of operating outside legal boundaries, making them particularly unsuitable stewards of such invasive technology. The ICE Out of My Face Act takes a measured approach by prohibiting ICE and CBP agents, along with some local police working with them, from acquiring or using biometric surveillance systems. It would also ban the use of information derived from such systems by other entities and includes a strong private right of action to ensure enforcement. This legislation represents an appropriate starting point for addressing government overreach in surveillance. Immigration enforcement agencies have demonstrated they cannot be trusted with this technology. The 100,000 face scans already conducted represent a massive invasion of privacy affecting communities across the country, including your constituents. I urge you to co-sponsor and vote for the ICE Out of My Face Act. Protecting civil liberties and privacy rights requires concrete action, and this bill provides a clear path forward to end an abusive surveillance practice that threatens fundamental freedoms.