"ICE has run facial-recognition searches on millions of Maryland drivers"

Read about SHSF grant’s to the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law in The Washington Post:

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been permitted to run facial-recognition searches on millions of Maryland driver’s license photos without first seeking state or court approval, state officials said — access that goes far beyond what other states allow and that alarms immigration activists in a state that grants special driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.”

“‘It’s a betrayal of immigrants’ trust for the [state] to turn around and let ICE run warrantless searches on their faces,’ said Harrison Rudolph, a senior associate at Georgetown University Law School’s Center on Privacy and Technology. ‘It’s a bait-and-switch. … ICE is using biometric information in the shadows, without government notice or public approval, to hunt down the most vulnerable people.’”

“Maryland, Rudolph said, appears to be the only state where ICE officials anywhere in the country can run a search as long as they have access to the National Crime Information Center, a widely available law-enforcement database maintained by the FBI, which he called ‘an unprecedented level of access for federal agents — including ICE deportation agents.’”

View the full article online at The Washington Post.