January 30, 2026
TSA PreCrime, anyone?
Court Filings: ICE App Identifies Protesters; Global Entry, PreCheck Get Revoked
Face scan at a protest, bye-bye Global Entry — and everyone’s mad
TLDR: Court filings say ICE used a phone app to scan protesters and some later lost Global Entry/TSA PreCheck. Commenters are split between calling it a free-speech crackdown and demanding better sourcing, with jokes about “TSA PreCrime” underscoring fears of surveillance chilling dissent.
Community outrage is in overdrive after court filings claim ICE agents used a phone app called “Mobile Fortify” to scan protesters’ faces and even grab “contactless” fingerprints — and some of those people later had their airport fast-lane perks (Global Entry and TSA PreCheck) yanked. One woman says an agent ID’d her by name, warned she was “impeding,” and three days later her status vanished. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) say it’s all lawful, but the crowd hears one thing: TSA PreCheck just became TSA PreCrime.
The hottest take? “First Amendment violation,” shouted by many, as users warn this chills free speech and turns “trusted traveler” into “trusted tattler.” One commenter dragged old promises about facial recognition “deletion” as fantasy, adding a grim punchline: by the time courts weigh in, everyone will move on. Another went big-picture, saying the way to stop authoritarian vibes is fixing inequality, not building apps that scan faces. Others played hall monitor: Global Entry has always been fragile — you can lose it for a forgotten apple! — and 39% of appeals succeed. Skeptics demanded receipts and dropped a better source. The memes practically wrote themselves: “Airport fast lane? More like surveillance express.”
Key Points
- •ICE is using a mobile app called Mobile Fortify to perform facial scans and capture contactless fingerprints, returning names and biographical data.
- •Court filings cited in the article allege some protest-related encounters with Mobile Fortify were followed by Global Entry and TSA PreCheck revocations.
- •The article states Mobile Fortify has reportedly been used over 100,000 times; ICE also uses BI2 Technologies for smartphone iris scanning and other surveillance tools.
- •DHS administers Global Entry/TSA PreCheck and conducts continuous vetting; being under investigation can lead to revocation, though protesting itself is not a listed disqualifier.
- •A court filing describes Nicole Cleland losing Global Entry and TSA PreCheck days after an ICE encounter; the article notes 39% of appeals succeed.