US Introduces Mandatory Biometric Checks for Foreigners and Green Card Holders from December 26

In a major policy shift, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that starting December 26, 2025, all non-US citizens — including Green Card holders — will be required to undergo facial recognition and biometric checks at every entry and exit point.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will collect photographs and biometric data at land borders, seaports, and airports as part of a nationwide effort to enhance national security and prevent identity fraud.

All Travelers to Be Scanned

The new rule eliminates previous exemptions for children under 14 and seniors over 79, meaning biometric data will now be collected from almost all foreign travellers.

CBP, which already uses facial recognition to verify international flyers at most major US airports, will now make the process mandatory across all ports of entry. The DHS said the system will help identify individuals overstaying their visas and strengthen border security measures.

According to a 2023 Congressional Research Service report, visa overstays account for nearly 42% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US. Officials believe expanding biometric checks will help address this long-standing issue.

Nationwide Rollout in 3–5 Years

The DHS noted that a biometric entry-exit system, long mandated by a 1996 US Congress law, will now be fully implemented. CBP estimates it will take three to five years to expand the system across all commercial airports and seaports.

Captured images will be stored in a secure database, linking passport and travel document photos with those taken at US borders to verify traveller identities in real time.

Civil Rights Groups Raise Concerns

The decision has drawn sharp remarks from advocates of privacy and civil rights who believe that massive biometric tracking will eventually result in mass surveillance.

A study conducted by the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2024 revealed that facial recognition systems generally have a greater difficulty identifying Black individuals and other minority groups. Detractors of the expansion claim it would be discrimination against particular communities and the chance of wrongful identification would be high.

“This technology is unreliable, disproportionately harms people of colour, and lays the groundwork for a perpetual surveillance state,” said Cody Venzke, Senior Policy Counsel at the ACLU, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Balancing Security and Privacy

DHS insists that collecting biometric data is mandatory for national security; however, privacy specialists demand more open and responsible practices. The accuracy and fairness of the facial recognition algorithms have been suggested to be verified by independent audits as a measure of the reliability of these programs.

The policy is part of a larger immigration enforcement initiative by the Trump administration, which relies on better border supervision and the application of sophisticated technologies to spot deceits and illegal entries.