New York — The Trump administration is accelerating its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and surveillance technologies to enforce immigration laws, a move that digital rights advocates warn could endanger both privacy and due process for millions — including U.S. citizens.
Under President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies have expanded a network of AI-powered systems to track, detain, and deport immigrants. Among the tools in use are facial recognition scanners deployed in public spaces, robotic patrol dogs scanning the U.S.-Mexico border, and social media-monitoring software operated by private firms.
Much of the technology has existed for years, said Saira Hussain, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. However, its use has intensified under the Trump administration, with broader data access and an expanded scope of enforcement.
“These tools now target a wider group of people and collect more personal information than ever before,” Hussain said.
One of the most controversial developments is the “Catch and Revoke” initiative, launched in March by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The program uses AI to monitor the online activity of foreign nationals, particularly student visa holders, for content deemed sympathetic to Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations. More than 300 individuals have reportedly had their visas revoked as a result.
“If they’re acting in ways that undermine our national interest or foreign policy, we will revoke the visa,” Rubio said at a March 28 news conference.
Critics say the use of AI in such programs risks severe consequences due to the technology’s propensity for errors. AI systems are known to produce “hallucinations” — fabricated information that appears credible but is entirely false — which experts argue makes them unsuitable for precision-based legal enforcement like immigration control.
“Immigration arrests using these tools raise serious concerns about civil rights violations,” said Paromita Shah, executive director of the immigrant rights organization Just Futures Law.
Several recent cases have highlighted these risks. Jonathan Guerrero, a U.S. citizen, was mistakenly arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Philadelphia. In another incident, Virginia resident Jensy Machado — also a U.S. citizen — was held at gunpoint by immigration officers during his commute. Both were released after their identities were confirmed.
An executive order signed by Trump in January signals a potential return of “Rapid DNA testing” at the border — a controversial practice scrapped in 2023 over accuracy and privacy concerns.
“Technologies often begin at the border and then spread further into American life without being proven reliable,” Hussain added. “This administration is chasing headline numbers — how many people they can remove — not accuracy.”
Independent technology analyst Tekendra Parmar echoed the concerns, saying, “The fallibility of the technology provides cover for a mass deportation strategy under the guise of AI legitimacy.”
DHS and ICE declined to comment on the use of these technologies.
Experts warn that these surveillance tools affect not only immigrants but U.S. residents at large. A 2021 study by Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology found that ICE had access to the driver’s license data of 75% of U.S. adults and could locate a similar proportion using public utility records.
“These data-intensive tools don’t just profile individuals,” said Emerald Tse, a researcher at Georgetown Law. “They map out households, workplaces, and communities — implicating nearly every corner of a person’s life.”
The data gathered feeds into complex algorithms used to determine who should be detained, who can be released, and under what conditions.
Trump has also moved to expand federal reach by reviving the use of 287(g) agreements, which deputize local law enforcement officers to carry out federal immigration duties. These agreements grant local agencies access to the same AI systems and data used by DHS and ICE, multiplying the number of actors involved in immigration enforcement.
“That’s the real escalation,” said Hussain. “It’s not just federal agents using this tech anymore — local police are now part of the surveillance web, with access to the same flawed data.”
As AI technologies become more embedded in the nation’s immigration apparatus, advocates warn that oversight, accuracy, and human rights protections are increasingly being sacrificed in favor of aggressive enforcement.
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