ICE facial recognition app Mobile Fortify used in Minnesota field operations
The US Department of Homeland Security has deployed Mobile Fortify, a facial recognition app, for field use by immigration agents across the US, reportedly conducting over 100,000 scans. Research shows the technology has higher error rates for women and people of color, and civil rights groups warn it risks misidentifying citizens.
What happened
The US Department of Homeland Security has deployed Mobile Fortify, a smartphone app with facial recognition technology, for field use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the US, including Minnesota. The app scans faces and fingerprints and pulls data from multiple federal and state databases, some of which federal courts have deemed too inaccurate for arrest warrants.
According to a lawsuit filed by Illinois and Chicago against the federal agency in January 2026, DHS has used Mobile Fortify to scan faces and fingerprints more than 100,000 times. Internal DHS documents indicate that people cannot refuse to be scanned by Mobile Fortify. The app's existence was first uncovered in summer 2025 through leaked emails.
Reported impact
Research has documented higher error rates in facial recognition when identifying women and people of color compared to scans of white faces. Agents often conduct scans in intense, fast-moving situations with poor lighting and subjects turning away, conditions that increase misidentification risk. An ACLU deputy director stated that 'a false result from this technology can turn somebody's life totally upside down.'
Civil liberties experts warn that the expanding use of biometric surveillance and interconnected databases risks sweeping up citizens and non-citizens alike, with little transparency or meaningful oversight.
Index analysis
The deployment represents a shift from immigration enforcement's earlier limited use of facial recognition at investigations and ports of entry. ICE is now using the technology in conditions known to produce the highest false match rates, according to privacy experts.
Governance controls
The lawsuit brought by Illinois and Chicago against DHS in January 2026 challenges the use of Mobile Fortify. No official finding on the merits has been reported to date.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.