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Fact check: What methods does the US use to track undocumented immigrants as of 2025?
Executive Summary
The United States deploys a wide mix of technology, data-sharing, and traditional enforcement tactics to locate and apprehend undocumented immigrants as of 2025, combining social media monitoring, commercial databases, biometric systems, device-hacking tools, and physical raids [1] [2] [3]. Reporting in 2025 shows an expansion and consolidation of these capabilities into platforms and contracts that enable faster cross-referencing of identities and locations, while local law-enforcement data-sharing arrangements create additional pathways for federal agencies to access surveillance feeds [4] [5].
1. How social media and open-source surveillance are being widened
ICE is actively seeking to expand round-the-clock monitoring of public social media feeds and open-source data, hiring contractors to scan platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for immigration enforcement leads, and integrating commercial research databases like LexisNexis Accurint and Thomson Reuters CLEAR into its workflows. This approach leverages automated collection and analytics to turn publicly available posts and metadata into actionable investigative leads, enabling agents to identify locations, associates, and mobility patterns that can prompt follow-up actions like audits or arrests [1] [6]. The scope of planned surveillance points to an institutional shift toward constant digital monitoring.
2. Biometric systems, facial recognition, and iris scanning: new frontiers
Federal enforcement is increasingly pairing traditional identity checks with biometric technologies, including facial recognition and proposed iris-scanning tools, under recent contracts and program expansions. Reports from 2025 indicate major investments in biometric identification platforms and AI-driven matching, which agencies use to reconcile images from cameras, social platforms, and vendor databases against immigration records, potentially accelerating identity confirmation for targeted individuals [2] [3]. These technologies are being consolidated into larger enforcement interfaces that promise faster, automated decision-making for who becomes a priority for apprehension [4].
3. Phone malware, spyware, and cell-site tracking: covert monitoring intensifies
Investigations in 2025 document procurement and use of intrusive tools such as Paragon-like phone spyware and cell-site simulators that can extract data directly from smartphones or emulate cell towers to capture location and communications. Agencies can combine device-level intrusions with commercial location datasets to reconstruct movements and contacts, producing a granular picture of a person’s life that informs enforcement actions. These capabilities, paired with centralized platforms, extend reach beyond public data into private communications and precise historical location trails [2] [3].
4. Databases and AI platforms centralize enforcement intelligence
Federal initiatives have been moving toward platforms that merge disparate tools — biometric matches, commercial databases, social-media analytics, and case management — into unified systems described in reporting as consolidation akin to a single “platform” for immigration enforcement. This centralization uses AI and automated scoring to prioritize individuals for action, shaping who is targeted for raids or detention and reducing manual case triage [4] [6]. The operational effect is a more efficient, data-driven pipeline from detection to enforcement that can rapidly escalate leads into physical interventions.
5. Traditional raids, workplace audits, and human intelligence remain core methods
Despite technological escalation, on-the-ground enforcement in 2025 continues to rely on raids, audits, and informant networks. ICE operations have increased in workplaces, homes, transportation hubs, and public spaces where agents use audits, surveillance, and community-sourced tips to identify undocumented people for detention or removal. Technology often functions as a force-multiplier for these traditional methods, providing intelligence that shapes where and when physical enforcement is conducted [7] [6].
6. Local surveillance networks create indirect pathways for federal access
Local law-enforcement deployments of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) and vendor-managed camera networks have become additional sources of location intelligence for federal immigration agencies. University of Washington reporting in October 2025 found that U.S. Border Patrol and ICE accessed Flock Safety ALPR networks in numerous Washington state jurisdictions, sometimes via direct access or "side door" searches, creating secondary pipelines where municipal surveillance feeds support federal immigration aims. Some local agencies have moved to restrict access in response, highlighting friction between local policy and federal enforcement needs [5] [8].
7. What the evidence implies and where disagreements lie
Taken together, 2025 reporting shows a rapid expansion of both technical reach and institutional integration in immigration surveillance: social-media scraping, biometrics, device intrusion, centralized AI platforms, and broadened data-sharing with local systems. Sources differ in emphasis: some highlight policy-driven expansion and centralization under federal priorities [4], while others point to operational practices like raids and contractor hiring as the main drivers [1] [7]. Independent audits and local policy pushback signal legal and ethical tensions as agencies operationalize these capabilities [5] [8].