Immigration Agents Are Using Meta’s Ai Glasses — And Critics Are Alarmed

Immigration agents are wearing individual pairs of Meta AI smart glasses to surveil communities, alarming protesters and civilian liberties experts who fearfulness nan footage will substance a crackdown connected those opposed to President Donald Trump’s nationwide deportation campaign.

Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents person progressively utilized government-provided body cameras and facial nickname technologyduring deployments nationwide complete nan past twelvemonth arsenic they arrested astir 400,000 immigrants and violently fought pinch protesters.

DHS agents successful six states person been seen successful nan smart glasses since Trump took office, an investigation by The Independent found. In immoderate cases, agents person utilized nan glasses — which person voice-controlled AI for analyzing what nan wearer is seeing — to grounds and photograph members of nan public. The glasses are besides connected to nan net and tin livestream video.

Taken together, these capabilities raise nan specter that agents could beryllium utilizing nan smart glasses to transmit video and images into facial nickname software or rule enforcement databases. The glasses person raised a big of caller privateness concerns, arsenic Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself was reminded past period erstwhile he appeared successful tribunal for a civil suit connected societal media addiction.

The judge warned that anyone who utilized smart glasses to grounds wrong her courtroom must delete their footage aliases beryllium held successful contempt. Some of Zuckerberg’s entourage had been photographed wearing Meta smart glasses arsenic they entered nan Los Angeles courthouse.

“If your glasses are recording, you must return them off,” nan judge said, according to nan Los Angeles Times. “It is nan bid of this tribunal that location must beryllium nary facial nickname of nan jury. If you person done that, you must delete it. This is very serious.”

Homeland Security does not person a statement pinch Meta for nan glasses, nan agency told The Independent, a truth confirmed by a reappraisal of national procurement records. DHS argumentation allows agents to deterioration their ain sunglasses, but they are not authorized to grounds pinch individual devices.

Civil liberties groups are already alarmed by nan emergence successful surveillance of American citizens pinch government-sanctioned phones and assemblage cams, but this accusation is still taxable to strict rules. Border Patrol agents pinch assemblage cameras, for instance, are required by section policy to grounds uses of force, and nan information they seizure is preserved successful accordance pinch guidelines from nan National Archives and Records Administration.

But experts pass that authorities agents making individual recordings is simply a full different ballgame.

Patrick G. Eddington, a surveillance expert and elder chap astatine nan libertarian Cato Institute, told The Independent that he is alarmed by nan “widespread” usage of Meta glasses, fixed nan Trump administration’s position that citizens who grounds aliases protestation agents are tantamount to a nationalist information threat.

Federal agents are already threatening civilian liberties by utilizing authorities devices to movie serene activists, he said. Non-violent protestation and study of authorities employees is “100 percent First Amendment-protected activity” that “shouldn’t extremity up connected authorities databases.”

When agents usage unregistered, individual devices to grounds citizens it raises moreover bigger reddish flags, he said, fixed nan Trump administration’s efforts to specify disapproval and study of nan authorities arsenic grounds of criminality.

A September national information memo connected home coercion enforcement lists “anti-Americanism” and criticisms of “law enforcement and separator control” arsenic cardinal indicators. The FBI has reportedly been directed to “compile a database of groups aliases entities” who clasp specified views, according to a DOJ memo obtained by reporter Ken Klippenstein. Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, meanwhile, said successful July that filming agents “when they're retired connected operations” is simply a shape of “violence.”

There are besides reports from aggregate cities that group who followed aliases filmed migration agents astatine activity person had their faces and licence plates photographed, aliases had agents thrust ominously past their homes. Eddington argues that each this speaks to a larger run of surveillance and intimidation astatine work.

Agents utilizing off-the-books devices further allows nan authorities to stitchery accusation connected group lawfully exercising their law rights, he said, and this information could substance early searches aliases arrests.

“The intent of it all, rather clearly, pinch this regime, is to stitchery arsenic overmuch information arsenic they tin connected anybody who they judge is simply a threat to nan regime,” Eddington said. “Anybody that's fundamentally opposing nan regime.”

He added: “They are aggregating information connected individuals and connected groups and they are utilizing it for nan intent of politically going aft people. To maine there’s conscionable perfectly nary uncertainty astir it.”

Clear policies wrong each national agency determine erstwhile agents move connected government-issued cameras and really this delicate information is stored for later review.

Jay Stanley, elder argumentation expert for the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told The Independent that agents utilizing their individual devices “eviscerates” these safeguards and is “characteristic of nan lawlessness” of nan Trump administration.

“If an serviceman is utilizing their ain individual device, that conscionable blows retired of nan h2o immoderate of nan needed policies that person to travel this shape of authorities surveillance,” he said.

‘We person a bully small database and now you’re considered a home terrorist’

Agents person been seeing wearing Meta glasses during operations in six states, according to an study of video, high-definition news photography and media reports by The Independent.

Illinois resident Liz Myers said that 2 Border Patrol agents utilized Meta glasses to movie her and different protesters during an migration cognition astatine a Home Depot parking batch successful Evanston connected December 17. Two group were arrested but their identities and alleged offenses stay unclear. The Independent has asked DHS for remark connected nan operation.

Myers’ video footage, reviewed by The Independent, shows 2 agents wearing Meta’s Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses. The glasses, which costs upwards of $379 depending connected nan features, are modeled connected nan celebrated Wayfarer model, but person circular, high-definition cameras astatine nan broadside of each lens wherever a rivet would usually be. A achromatic LED ray supra nan correct lens indicates that nan glasses are signaling and blinks connected and disconnected erstwhile a photograph is taken, according to Meta.

Hackers claim nan privateness ray tin easy beryllium disabled, allowing users to grounds others without immoderate visible denotation they are doing so. Covers to artifact retired nan LED light are besides being sold connected Amazon by 3rd parties.

Meta is exploring whether to officially adhd a facial nickname capacity to nan glasses, The New York Times reported successful February. The company did not supply a consequence connected nan grounds to questions from The Independent.

The video from Myers shows 2 agents successful Meta glasses pinch nan achromatic lights activated looking towards her and chap protesters. The subject seasoned says she didn’t recognize she was being filmed astatine nan time. She was alerted aft providing her video to Northwestern University’s Daily Northwestern newspaper, which first spotted and subsequently reported that nan 2 agents had been recording.

A Homeland Security spokesperson told The Independent: “The usage of individual signaling devices is not authorized. Recordings whitethorn only beryllium done connected authorities issued devices specified arsenic Go Pros aliases accepted DSLR handheld cameras.”

The Independent provided nan images and footage it had reviewed to DHS, and asked if immoderate agents filming pinch Meta glasses had been investigated aliases disciplined. “Our connection stands,” DHS responded.

Myers worries that agents are not only signaling members of nan nationalist without their knowledge, but that nan footage is being utilized to way critics of nan Trump administration.

“They’re keeping records of group who are protesting them,” she claimed.

The Illinois activist’s concerns are warranted. Immigration agents are regularly seen signaling members of nan public, particularly during tense confrontations.

ICE supplier Jonathan Ross used his compartment telephone to grounds Minneapolis resident Renee Good, who had been watching agents from wrong her SUV, moments earlier he fatally changeable her successful January. Agents were wearing assemblage cameras erstwhile they fatally changeable different protester, Alex Pretti, successful Minneapolis that aforesaid month. Pretti had been pointing his telephone astatine agents successful nan moments earlier he was killed.

During testimony earlier nan Senate connected February 12, ICE main Todd Lyons was asked why Ross was filming during nan encounter, and whether that reflected immoderate charismatic DHS policies. Lyons said that agents person been instructed to grounds video “if they were going to make an arrest, opportunity of an agitator” and that “the U.S. lawyer was requiring to person video starring up to nan event.”

In January, an ICE supplier successful Maine allegedly photographed nan licence sheet of a female who had been filming earlier successful nan day arsenic they made arrests.

In video of nan incident, nan supplier told her, “We person a bully small database and now you’re considered a home terrorist.” The female has since joined a people action suit seeking to barroom nan Trump management from “threatening, harassing, and different retaliating" against Americans for exercising their First Amendment rights.

DHS has many times denied location is immoderate database cataloging group arsenic terrorists if they observe aliases protestation migration operations.

“There is NO database of ‘domestic terrorists’ tally by DHS,” a Homeland Security charismatic told The Independent. “We do of people show and analyse and mention each threats, assaults and obstruction of our officers to nan due rule enforcement. Obstructing and assaulting rule enforcement is simply a felony and a national crime.”

After nan shootings of Good and Pretti, nan Trump management has trim backmost connected nan number of agents deployed for migration raids successful Minneapolis, but operations are expected to proceed successful different parts of nan country.

‘Violating nan Constitution’

In 3 instances successful 2025 — nan Evanston operation, positive deployments successful Los Angeles and North Carolina — agents appeared to person utilized Meta glasses to grounds aliases photograph people.

Agents were besides seen wearing nan glasses successful New Jersey, Louisiana and Minnesota, but The Independent did not find grounds that they were utilized to grounds aliases return photos.

On May 7, 2025, a masked supplier wearing a vest from ICE’s elite Enforcement and Removal Operations typical consequence squad was photographed wearing Meta sunglasses while guarding an migrant detention halfway successful Newark, New Jersey.

Immigration agents were besides seen wearing Meta glasses past summertime successful Los Angeles, erstwhile teams poured into nan city successful consequence to wide anti-deportation protests.

A Border Patrol supplier was wearing Meta glasses during a June 30 ambush adjacent a Home Depot successful Cypress Park, tech news tract 404 Media reported. It is unclear if nan supplier utilized nan glasses to record.

A July 7 photo, from nan AFP news agency, shows an supplier from Border Patrol’s elite Bortac typical operations portion wearing nan glasses while hanging from an armored conveyance adjacent MacArthur Park successful LA. A achromatic ray is visible connected nan right-side lens, suggesting nan supplier was signaling aliases taking a photograph astatine nan time.

A Getty photograph from December 5 showed a Border Patrol supplier wearing Meta glasses astatine a parkland successful Metairie, Louisiana, during ongoing operations successful nan New Orleans area. The supplier did not look to beryllium recording.

In December, 404 Media reported that a Border Patrol supplier was signaling pinch Meta glasses during an migration ambush successful Charlotte, North Carolina.

More recently, photos from nan Getty news agency showed 1 aliases much agents successful smart glasses connected January 9 and January 12 successful Minneapolis. The sunglasses’ signaling ray was not connected successful either photo. The individual successful some photos appeared to beryllium portion of a larger group of agents carrying retired roving operations crossed nan city.

Deepening ties

The Trump management continues to deepen its ties pinch surveillance and tech companies. The White House is supporting nan accelerated build-out of AI information centers, and it has integrated AI tools from powerful companies for illustration OpenAI and xAI — nan second tally by erstwhile Trump advisor Elon Musk — into U.S. nationalist information systems.

DHS has at slightest $1 cardinal successful contracts and purchasing agreements with Palantir, a longstanding tech contractor co-founded by past Trump philanthropist Peter Thiel, for AI and information mining to way and place migrants for deportation.

Customs and Border Protection besides precocious struck a one-year woody to entree Clearview AI’s facial nickname tool, which allows users to comparison their photos to billions of nationalist images scraped from nan internet.

Stephen Miller, nan Trump administration’s homeland information adviser, disclosed past twelvemonth he was an investor successful Palantir, a patient which donated heavy to pro-Trump PACs during nan 2024 predetermination and later donated to nan president’s White House ballroom project.

Meta, meanwhile, donated to Trump’s inauguration and his ballroom, and Zuckerberg visited Trump astatine Mar-a-Lago soon aft nan election. The Meta CEO was among nan Silicon Valley guests of honor erstwhile Trump was sworn successful for a 2nd word past January.

Myers, nan Illinois protester, believes nan surveillance and signaling is reflective of nan larger, fierce attack to migration enforcement by nan Trump administration. She witnessed an incident successful October 2025 wherever agents pinned a man to nan crushed and struck him successful nan look while he was restrained.

“I americium a vet,” Myers said. “I served successful nan Army during nan first Gulf War. I took an oath to take sides nan Constitution, and everything that they’re doing is violating nan Constitution successful respective ways. I do spot them arsenic being home terrorists.”

Justin Rohrlich contributed reporting to this story