United States Sets to Increase Facial Recognition Checks on Non-Citizens at All Points of Entry

24 October 2025

Travelers pass through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security screening at Hollywood Burbank Airport during the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown in Burbank, California, U.S., October 1, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole

The U.S. government has unveiled a sweeping regulation, scheduled to take effect on December 26, that expands the use of facial recognition and other biometric data collection for non-citizens crossing the country’s borders, a move designed to strengthen enforcement efforts and curb visa overstays and passport fraud.

Under this new rule, operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other border-security agencies, non-citizens will be required to submit photographs at airports, seaports, land crossings and any departure points where they exit the country. In addition to facial images, the regulation permits the collection of additional biometrics such as fingerprint data or DNA samples in certain cases.

Notably the rule closes prior exemptions for children under the age of 14 and adults over 79 two groups previously outside the full scope of biometric collection at exit and entry points. With this change the regulation ensures that virtually all non-citizen travelers, regardless of age, may be subject to these identification checks.

Officials say the policy reflects a concerted effort to reduce the roughly 42 percent rate of visa overstays among undocumented immigrants in the U.S., a figure that stems from an estimate by the Congressional Research Service identifying that portion of the approximately 11 million undocumented individuals were in that status because they overstayed a visa.

From CBP’s own standpoint the expansion is intended to accelerate the long-planned “automated entry-exit system” that Congress originally mandated in 1996 but that has never been fully implemented. The anticipation is that within three to five years a comprehensive biometric entry-exit framework will operate at all U.S. commercial airports and seaports for both arrivals and departures.

Despite the promise of tighter security the regulation has already drawn strong push-back from civil liberties and privacy advocacy groups. Critics warn that biometrics and facial recognition carry risks of misidentification and discrimination, particularly for minority groups. A 2024 report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights highlighted that facial recognition systems historically show higher error rates when identifying Black people and other people of colour.

Concerns also centre on the expansion at entries and exits, which in previous practice were more limited. The prospect of photographing travelers at land crossings or every point of departure raises questions about the breadth of surveillance and the long-term retention of biometric data. Some critics posit that the oversight mechanisms and safeguards for how this data is used and stored remain inadequate.

On the enforcement side authorities argue that the U.S. needs a stronger capability to track non-citizens’ departures as well as arrivals. By expanding biometric capture to exit points, the government hopes to close a longstanding gap that undermined enforcement of visa compliance and oversight of travel patterns.

From a practical viewpoint the change will mean more travellers screened for biometrics and possibly longer wait times or more procedures at border control points, especially for those who are non-citizens. Nationalities, visa categories and arrival methods will determine how the regulation is applied, though the broad rule applies to non-citizens at large.

The regulation also signals how immigration policy is increasingly meeting high-tech methods of control. Surveillance, data integration and real-time biometric checks are becoming standard instruments in enforcement-focused migration systems.

For non-citizens the stakes are significant. Those departing the United States may now find that their exit is logged with facial recognition and other biometrics just as their entry was years earlier. The tracking of entries and exits in this way could affect visa renewals, future applications, and even enforcement actions if overstays are detected.

As the implementation date looms the question remains how effectively the system will operate and how well it safeguards privacy and civil rights. The breadth of data collection, cross-agency use, and long-term storage are all factors civil-rights watchers say require stronger transparency and accountability.

The U.S. government’s expansion of facial recognition at the border thus marks not just an enforcement shift but a moment of evolving policy one that lies at the intersection of migration, technology and rights.