ICE plans to purchase eye-scanning tech to ID unauthorized immigrants

Claim:

In August 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement indicated its intent to purchase artificial intelligence technology that can scan people’s eyes from several feet away to identify immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Rating:

What’s True

ICE released a notice on Aug. 6, 2025, detailing the agency’s plan to purchase biometric, iris-scanning technology that can scan people’s eyes to identify people who are in the country illegally.

What’s False

The technology works from up to 10 to 15 inches away, meaning it can scan eyes from a little over a foot away, not “several feet away.” News reports appeared to mistake a notation for “inches” to mean “feet.”

What’s Undetermined

The company that made the eye-scanning technology, Bi2 Technologies, did not explicitly state that its tech primarily uses artificial intelligence modeling, nor did the company return inquiries about its possible use of artificial intelligence. As of this writing, experts disagree on whether biometrics are “inherently intertwined” with AI, making it impossible to definitively say whether Bi2 Technologies does, in fact, use AI.

According to rumors spreading online in August 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to purchase software that can scan eyes from several feet away to identify people in the country illegally. 

To be specific, posts on X, Facebook and Reddit claimed that ICE plans to purchase artificial intelligence software that scans people’s eyes from “several feet away,” presumably to help the agency apprehend and deport immigrants who are in the country illegally. 

Based on publicly available information, in August 2025, ICE did, in fact, announce its intent to award a contract to Massachusetts-based Bi2 Technologies for its iris-scanning biometric technology. The technology can identify individuals from 10 to 15 inches away, according to the company, despite a news report from CNN Newsource — which other outlets republished — initially stating that the scans work from 10 to 15 feet away. Further, given conflicting definitions of biometrics and AI, Snopes cannot definitively say whether Bi2 Technologies’ iris-scanning system uses AI.

As such, while some of the details in these posts were incorrect or a matter of opinion, they accurately stated that ICE planned to purchase access to eye-scanning technology for the purpose of immigration-related arrests and deportations. Thus, we rate this claim mostly true. 

CNN Newsource did not immediately return an inquiry about the research behind its story. Bi2 Technologies and ICE did not return various inquiries, including one about how far the planned contract had progressed. 

Eye-scanning tech 

According to SAM.gov, the official site for government contract information, ICE released an Aug. 6 notice outlining the agency’s plan to purchase licenses for two programs offered by Bi2 Technologies: the Inmate Identification and Recognition System (I.R.I.S.) and the Mobile Offender Recognition & Information (MORIS). 

The I.R.I.S. program, according to the Bi2 Technologies website, “positively identifies offenders using the most anatomically unique biometric — the iris.” 

“The user can stand or sit as far as 10″ to 15″ away from the unit, and even wear glasses or contact lenses without compromising system accuracy,” the website said. “Unlike some other popular biometrics, iris authentication involves no physical contact.” (The double prime symbol notation of ” refers to inches.) 

The company also maintains a private, national, web-based iris biometric database for identification purposes. In a 2017 news release, the company’s president, Sean G. Mullin, said the network provides “immediate access to national, state and local criminal justice and law enforcement databases.” 

The second program, MORIS, is an app available on Apple, Microsoft and Android devices that accompanies the I.R.I.S. program. 

“MORIS™ allows law enforcement to authenticate an individual’s identity and immediately have access to any information and data previously entered into the I.R.I.S™ national database,” the company’s website said. 

ICE’s proposed contract 

According to the initial Aug. 6 proposal, both systems would be used by ICE’S Enforcement and Removal Operations team, indicating the agency’s plans to use the tech to identify people for arrest, detention and deportation. Here’s what the agency’s notice of intent says (emphasis ours):

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to solicit, negotiate, and award a sole source purchase order to Bi2 Technologies, LLC (Bi2) for licenses for the Inmate Identification and Recognition System (I.R.I.S.™) and the Mobile Offender Recognition & Information (MORIS™) for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). The Government intends to award the sole source in accordance with the procedures of FAR Subpart 13.5, using the statutory authority of 41 USC 1901. The Government conducted extensive market research and determined that Bi2 is the only company that can provide the required services.

The information provided in this notice is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.

The anticipated award date for this purchase order is August 2025. The anticipated period of performance for the purchase order will be 12 months from the date of the award.

As stated above, the contract may change after the publication of this story and the notice of intent merely indicated the government’s plans, not a binding decision. 

As of this writing, I.R.I.S. is used by sheriff’s offices and correctional facilities for arrest, prisoner intake and booking, release and to authenticate an individual’s identity, the company said, and the program could generate identification results for photographs in “approximately 8 seconds or less.”

Snopes asked Bi2 Technologies for more information about where the data from the I.R.I.S. network comes from and await a response. 

Does I.R.I.S. count as AI? 

While Bi2 Technologies also, as of this writing, offered a technology service explicitly labeled an AI-powered tool, its public marketing materials for I.R.I.S. and MORIS did not include any mention of AI. 

Biometric technology like the kind used in I.R.I.S. often relies on AI modeling systems, but experts disagree on whether biometric tech inherently must include AI. According to the Biometrics Institute, a global organization focused on the responsible use of biometrics, “some members argue that biometrics are inherently intertwined with AI, while others emphasise that many biometric applications exist independently.” (The Institute’s members include government agencies, global companies and various independent experts.) 

No single, globally accepted definition exists for either AI or biometrics, which contributed to conflicting opinions about the relationship between the two kinds of tech, the Institute said on Page 2 of a January 2025 report. 

Bi2 Technologies also did not return an inquiry as to whether the company considers I.R.I.S. or MORIS as AI-powered tools. Therefore, we could not, as of this writing, state that the eye-scanning tech ICE planned to purchase uses AI. 

In sum… 

ICE published a proposal to license iris-scanning technology on Aug. 6, 2025, for assistance with immigration-related arrests, detentions and deportations. The tech can work from as far as 10 to 15 inches away, according to Bi2 Technologies, the company that created it. It was unclear, as of this writing, whether the eye-scanning program counted as AI and how far the proposal, which is subject to change, had progressed. 

Sources