Congress moves to ban ICE facial recognition—and let you sue if they ignore it
H.R. 7363 — ICE Out of Our Faces Act · Filed by Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) · 10 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 4, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from using facial recognition, voice recognition, gait analysis, or other biometric surveillance systems to identify or track individuals. It requires deletion of all biometric data collected before or after the law takes effect within 30 days, allows individuals and state attorneys general to sue the federal government for violations, and bars evidence obtained through biometric surveillance from being used in any legal proceeding.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to restrict a specific government surveillance capability (biometric identification by immigration enforcement) and create private enforcement mechanisms. It is a civil-liberties constraint on executive power, not a market intervention or appropriation.
What the text implies
- Deletion requirement (30 days) may create operational friction for ICE/CBP but also destroys evidence of past surveillance, potentially shielding prior misidentifications from discovery.
- Private right of action and state attorney general enforcement create parallel litigation pathways that could overwhelm federal courts with damages claims if biometric use was widespread.
- Voice recognition and gait analysis restrictions are broader than facial recognition alone, potentially affecting future AI-driven identification tools not yet deployed.
- Carve-out for 'judicial investigations or proceedings' allows biometric evidence in cases alleging violations of THIS law, but not in other criminal/civil cases — creates asymmetric admissibility.
Who it affects
Ordinary people gain a concrete privacy protection against warrantless biometric surveillance by immigration enforcement agencies. The bill creates enforceable rights (private right of action, state enforcement, damages) that did not previously exist, reducing the risk of misidentification and unauthorized tracking during immigration encounters.
Named in the bill
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security, State attorneys general
Where it stands
10 cosponsors: 10 Democrats.
- Feb 4, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 4, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Homeland Security and House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 2, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress moves to ban ICE facial recognition—and let you sue if they ignore it” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr7363 Report an error
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