The Trump administration is proposing a new regulation that would require all travelers leaving or entering the U.S. to be photographed, citing safety concerns.
The proposal, which is set to be issued in July by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), aims to use face scans to track travelers — including U.S. citizens — as they come and go in the U.S., Reuters reports.
{mosads}In its regulatory agenda, the Trump administration says the facial scan will address fraudulent U.S. travel documents and help officials identify criminals and suspected terrorists.
The administration also reportedly plans to issue a separate fast-track regulation that would allow the initiative to move past pilot status, according to Reuters.
After the government proposes a regulation, the public usually has between 30 and 60 days to comment on it before the federal agency behind it reviews and responds.
Within DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has experimented with collecting travelers’ photographs and fingerprints as a means of boosting security, but an internal audit of the program found technical and operational issues, the outlet notes.
CBP said in June that it had processed more than 19 million travelers using facial recognition technology in airports and at borders but had only identified a little more than 100 “imposters” whose identities didn’t match their ID documents.
House Democrats have raised concerns about the program, accusing CBP of pursuing the measure with inadequate regard to privacy and legal guidelines.