WASHINGTON, CMC – Caribbean-American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke on Friday led a public comment letter signed by 48 of her colleagues urging the Trump administration to reconsider the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) rule proposal to expand biometric data collection and reuse across immigration and naturalization processes.
The letter was sent to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow.
Clarke, who is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn and chairs the Congressional Black Caucus.
“Recent public reporting, including an NPR (National Public Radio) investigation, has highlighted DHS’s increasing reliance on facial recognition and third-party data systems with limited transparency or oversight,” the letter says. “These findings underscore broader concerns about algorithmic bias, disproportionate impacts on communities of color and immigrants, and the dangers of expanding surveillance infrastructure without clear guardrails.
Recent high-profile breaches of biometrics systems, including the violation of a biometrics database for a company used by the UK Metropolitan Police and the unauthorized access of US Customs and Border Protection data used for a facial recognition pilot program, highlight the threat posed by broad biometrics collection without strong civil rights, privacy, and cybersecurity protections,” it adds.
The legislators said the proposed rule provides “no meaningful detail on how DHS will secure, limit, or oversee the new and expansive datasets it would create.
“It lacks information on cybersecurity protections, retention limits, access controls, independent auditing, or transparency mechanisms,” they added. “Without such safeguards, the rule risks eroding public trust in immigration systems and undermining civil-rights protections that are essential to fair and humane governance.”
The lawmakers said biometric technologies hold “significant implications for privacy, equality, and public trust.
“The rule would allow DHS to require biometric submissions from anyone associated with an immigration benefit request – including US citizens, children, and lawful permanent residents serving as petitioners, sponsors, beneficiaries, or dependents – with no age limitations and broad permission to store, share, and reuse this data,” they said. “Biometric identifiers are permanent and cannot be changed if compromised, making the risks of misuse or breach uniquely severe, irreversible, and lifelong.
“DHS must adopt a framework that protects individuals – not one that exposes millions of US citizens, lawful permanent residents, and immigrant families to unnecessary and unmitigated risk,” they urged.
But, in a policy update issued on December 5, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which falls under DHS, said that, in general, when requesting an immigration benefit from USCIS, “a person (including aliens,
petitioners, beneficiaries, derivatives, and sponsors) may be required to attend an Application Support Center (ASC) biometric services appointment for identity verification and to provide biometrics needed to conduct security and background checks.
“If the person fails to attend the ASC appointment without properly informing USCIS of a pertinent reason, such as a change of address, or a request to reschedule, USCIS considers that person to have abandoned the application, petition, or other benefit request,” it said. “USCIS does not allow USCIS contractors or staff to travel to jails, prisons, or non-DHS detention facilities to collect biometrics.”
In addition, USCIS said there is no current agreement between it and the US.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has agreed to collect biometrics from individuals with an immigration benefit pending with USCIS.
“This update removes outdated guidance that places the burden on ICE to collect biometrics of aliens in custody and clarifies guidance on USCIS’ biometrics collection for detained aliens in custody in both DHS and non-DHS facilities,” it added.
USCIS stressed that the policy highlights provide that “USCIS does not collect biometrics from aliens or other persons who are detained or incarcerated in any jail, prison, or similar DHS or non-DHS detention facilities and have a pending immigration petition or application with USCIS; (and) removes obsolete guidance to clarify that there is no controlling intradepartmental agreement between USCIS and ICE regarding the collection of biometrics for aliens in custody with pending USCIS benefits.”
In addition, USCIS said the update “clarifies that DHS has no obligation to collect biometrics from aliens in detention, unless they are in removal proceedings and have an application or petition in front of the Executive Office for Immigration Review.”
and then 