USCIS seeks to revive, broaden biometric data collection for immigrants

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today published a sweeping new proposed rule that would expand both who must submit biometric data during immigration proceedings and the kinds of biometrics the agency can collect.

It comes a week after DHS finalized a separate rule authorizing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to photograph and collect biometrics from virtually all non-citizens entering or leaving the U.S.

Together, the two rules reflect a coordinated effort to establish a department wide biometric identity infrastructure that tracks individuals from border crossing to benefit adjudication.

Combining the USCIS and CBP frameworks could effectively produce a unified biometric tracking system encompassing all non-citizens in the United States.

Because the USCIS proposal also covers certain U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents connected to immigration filings, the system’s reach may extend beyond its stated immigration focus.

The proposed USCIS regulation would allow the agency to require biometrics from any person who files or is associated with an immigration benefit request, regardless of age. It includes petitioners, beneficiaries, sponsors, and others linked to the filing.

The rule states that USCIS may collect, reuse, and share biometrics across the individual’s immigration history to support “continuous vetting,” a process that is meant to ensure ongoing background checks and identity verification throughout the immigration process.

The proposal defines “biometrics” expansively to include fingerprints, palm prints, facial images, voice prints, handwritten signatures, and ocular imagery such as iris, retina, or sclera scans.

It would also authorize USCIS to collect DNA samples or partial DNA profiles to confirm biological relationships or determine eligibility when claims hinge on genetic evidence.

USCIS says raw DNA would be destroyed after testing but that the resulting partial DNA profile and test results would be stored in the person’s immigration file and could be shared with other DHS components or law enforcement if permitted by law.

If adopted, the rule would remove longstanding age exemptions. Even children could be required to submit biometrics, including minors under 14 who self-petition under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) or apply for T visas. VAWA was passed in 1994 and was introduced by Joe Biden when he was a senator.

The rule also clarifies that USCIS can consider conduct outside the usual three-year window when determining good moral character in certain VAWA cases.

For U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents involved in EB-5 investment programs, biometric screening would remain mandatory to ensure the vetting of owners and managers of regional centers and affiliated businesses.

The regulatory analysis accompanying the proposal estimates that about 1.12 million additional people each year would be required to submit biometrics, imposing direct annual costs of roughly $231 million between fiscal years 2026 and 2035.

USCIS argues that expanding biometrics will enhance security, streamline identity verification, and prevent fraud by aligning the agency’s procedures with the department’s broader shift toward a unified biometric framework.

The rule arrives directly after DHS finalized its October 27 CBP rule requiring photographs and other biometric identifiers from nearly all non-citizens at entry and exit. That measure, effective December 26, removes the limited scope of earlier pilot programs and authorizes collection at all airports, seaports, and land ports of entry.

CBP officials say the expansion will improve accuracy in tracking departures and detecting visa overstays and false identity documents. The rule also removes previous age exemptions, applying biometric requirements to travelers of all ages.

DHS has portrayed the CBP rule as completing a decades-long congressional mandate for a full entry-exit biometric system that began with legislation passed in the 1990s but was never fully implemented.

The back-to-back release of the CBP and USCIS measures suggests a broader policy objective: integrating biometric identity verification across every stage of immigration control, from the border to the benefits process.

Together, they establish what DHS calls a “person-centric” identity framework that continuously links biometric data with biographic and case information across time, systems, and agencies.

This approach, however, revives a debate that first surfaced five years earlier. In September 2020, under the first Trump administration, DHS proposed a similar department wide rule that sought to authorize collection of additional biometric modalities and eliminate age-based exemptions.

That 2020 proposal would have allowed DNA collection, iris scans, and voice prints for nearly all immigration applicants, including U.S. citizens associated with benefit requests. It prompted immediate backlash from civil liberties advocates who argued that it was an unprecedented expansion of government surveillance that blurred the line between immigration administration and law enforcement data collection.

After President Biden became president, DHS formally withdrew that earlier rule on May 10, 2021. In its withdrawal notice, the department cited the need for “further review of the agency’s authorities, information security, and privacy practices.”

Advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Immigration Law Center, celebrated the withdrawal as a victory for privacy and proportionality.

The new 2025 USCIS proposal revives many of the same provisions that were shelved four years earlier, though DHS officials now insist that the rule incorporates updated privacy safeguards and a more targeted implementation framework limited to USCIS, rather than all DHS components.

The similarities are nonetheless striking. Both the 2020 and 2025 versions aim to expand the definition of biometrics beyond fingerprints and photos to include emerging modalities such as DNA and iris scans.

Both remove age limits and emphasize the long-term reuse of biometric data. Both also link collection to continuous vetting, which critics see as an open-ended mechanism for persistent monitoring.

The reemergence of these policies underlines DHS’s enduring interest in a more comprehensive biometric system, even as administrations change.

Immigration law firms and policy analysts have already begun dissecting the new proposal, saying that the USCIS rule would significantly expand the number of individuals subject to biometric collection, potentially including millions of petitioners and family members who previously faced no such requirement.

They noted that the new inclusion of DNA and ocular imagery could introduce complex privacy and procedural issues as well.

Comment periods will remain open until January 2, 2026, but advocacy organizations are already signaling opposition and preparing public submissions.

Civil liberties groups point out that the original 2020 biometrics expansion drew over 5,000 public comments, the majority critical of its scope, and warn that the new proposal risks replicating the same flaws unless it introduces enforceable limits on data retention and sharing.

Critics also have already questioned whether continuous vetting can be justified under immigration law, arguing that it could lead to lifelong surveillance of immigrants and U.S. sponsors alike.

At the same time, DHS and allied think tanks argue that such tools are essential for security and fraud prevention. Department officials maintain that the rules close longstanding vulnerabilities in the immigration system and provide more reliable identity assurance.

They argue that fraud detection, national security vetting, and administrative efficiency require biometric confirmation beyond paper documents or self-reported data.

The operational burden, however, is significant. Expanding biometrics would require USCIS to scale up its network of Application Support Centers nationwide, potentially adding new equipment for iris, voice, and DNA collection.

The renewed biometrics expansion marks a reversal from the policy course set earlier in the Biden administration. The withdrawal of the 2020 rule was seen as a rejection of overreach and a commitment to reassess privacy implications.

By reintroducing many of the same provisions in 2025, DHS has reopened a debate about how far the government should go in using advanced identification technology for immigration purposes.

Article Topics

biometric data  |  biometric identifiers  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  data collection  |  DHS  |  dna  |  immigration  |  iris biometrics  |  U.S. Government  |  United States  |  USCIS