US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to equip agents with smart glasses featuring real-time facial recognition. According to investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein, financial documents show the development of a biometric identification platform modeled on Meta's commercial glasses.

The system would allow agents to follow video feeds and cross-reference them with federal biometric databases - which contain information on individuals regardless of whether they have been arrested or charged.

Not just for immigrants

Sources from the Department of Homeland Security stated that the technology goes beyond immigration targets. An anonymous department attorney was blunt: the initiative targets all Americans, especially protesters, not just undocumented immigrants.

This is not theory. In Maine, an ICE agent admitted to scanning the faces of protesters with a phone and flagging them as "domestic terrorists." Recent reports document agents scanning the faces of random citizens for citizenship verification.

From an immigration control tool to a comprehensive surveillance system for all citizens - the transition is faster than anyone imagined. And once the technology is introduced, there is no going back.