OIG investigates CBP’s data management 

When immigrants arrive at the borders of the US with the intention of requesting a legal entry permit, border forces such as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must collect biometric data like face photographs or fingerprints.

It is important to clarify that these federal agencies belong to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is in charge of protecting the American population and the sovereignty of the country.

The DHS must protect immigrants’ personal information and its database against hackers. In fact, the privacy of information is one of the pillars of this entity.

However, news recently broke that biometric data, which included face photographs, of approximately 184,000 immigrants were stolen from DHS databases, putting their integrity at risk.

Therefore, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), which is also part of the DHS, conducted a thorough investigation to find the root cause of the biometric data breach.

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Main findings of the OIG investigation

The OIG investigation questions the security of information in the hands of CBP, stating that an employee of a subcontractor hired by the border agency was involved in breaching the privacy of databases.

The OIG assures that “This incident may damage the public’s trust in the government’s ability to safeguard biometric data and may result in travelers’ reluctance to permit DHS to capture and use their biometrics at U.S. ports of entry”

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The Trump administration plans to request more biometric data for immigration processes

In early September 2020, the Trump administration announced that it intends to request more biometric data for immigration processes, both at authorized ports of entry and at immigration offices within the US.

It means that if immigrants need to apply for an adjustment of immigration status, start a family-based immigration request or other processes, they will have to accept the collection of biometric data such as DNA samples, eye scans, inter alia.

However, after this inconvenience and findings of the OIG investigation, the government may face legal complaints for trying to obtain more biometric data from immigrants when there was a recent information privacy breach.

The guide you need for your immigration case

In addition to keeping you up to date with the latest immigration news, the Motion Law team is highly qualified to guide you during and through your immigration journey in the US.

Because the health crisis and the Trump administration have substantially changed multiple immigration processes, it is better to have the constant accompaniment of experts, who are up to date with current immigration policies and who can guide you towards the success of your application.

If you have any questions about an immigration issue or relating to a case you may have currently in progress, then please don’t hesitate to contact us for a FREE Phone Consultation with one of our expert immigration attorneys.

Simply call Motion Law today at: (202) 918-1799.