Terms of Service with Clare Duffy How are ICE Agents Using Facial Recognition Technology?
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Feb 24, 2026 Yahya Abou-Ghazala, an investigative reporter and CNN producer, walks through how ICE agents used phones to run facial recognition in the field. He describes the Mobile Fortify app, patterns found in videos, data and retention concerns, and what this means for people stopped or filmed by agents.
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Minneapolis Incident Showed Live Facial ID In Action
- In Minneapolis an ICE agent lifted his phone, told a man to pull his hood off, then snapped a photo that Mobile Fortify appeared to confirm.
- Yahya's team saw the app on the agent's screen and text exchanges asking if others got the facial recognition results.
App Queries CBP Databases But Details Remain Opaque
- Mobile Fortify appears to query CBP databases such as passport and entry/exit records to link faces to immigration history.
- There is limited public transparency about exactly which datasets are used or how queries and matches are logged.
Photo Quality And Secrecy Affect Accuracy
- Accuracy depends on photo quality and the opaque algorithm, and Mobile Fortify has reportedly produced misidentifications.
- Videos show agents taking hurried or discreet photos, which can worsen recognition accuracy.