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America’s A.I. Dragnet

Armed with a $30 billion budget, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are building a massive, A.I.-assisted surveillance apparatus that combines facial recognition, biometrics, and every available piece of personal data to keep tabs on immigrants and citizens, alike.

us border patrol ice dhs agents
A survey of government contracts helps illuminate what experts have referred to as Donald Trump’s “American dragnet”—a rapidly expanding surveillance state encompassing facial recognition, cross-agency data integration, biometrics, and yes, a whole lot of artificial intelligence tools. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images
Ian Krietzberg
February 3, 2026

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A few weeks ago, a chilling video surfaced of an exchange between an ICE agent and a woman on a street in Portland, Maine. In the footage, the officer was shown taking photos of a woman who was filming him. When the woman asked what the agent was doing, he replied: “We have a nice little database and now you’re considered a domestic terrorist. So have fun with that.”