House Oversight subcommittee hears split views on using technology to track immigrants and bolster enforcement

The Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation convened on March 1, 2025, in Washington, D.C., for a hearing on how modern technology can be used to strengthen immigration enforcement and interior monitoring.

The hearing brought sharply divergent views. Committee members and former enforcement officials urged broader use of digital tracking, biometric identification and data modernization to locate and remove noncitizens ordered deported; other witnesses cautioned that operational limits, legal barriers and privacy safeguards shape what technology can realistically accomplish.

Former ICE enforcement official John Fabricatorre, testifying first, said agencies need an updated, enterprise data platform and wider use of tools that he said helped past operations, including a mobile fingerprint device referred to in testimony as “Eddie.” “The time to act is now,” Fabricatorre said, arguing that improved data sharing and machine‑learning tools would allow officers to “target and apprehend with precision.”

Dr. Doug Gilmore, a retired Homeland Security Investigations official, described…