by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
February 9, 2026
The lady says she didn’t break any legal guidelines.
A Minnesota protestor says her TSA PreCheck was revoked after an ICE Cell app scanned her face.
Ars Technica first reported the information of the Minneapolis resident and ICE observer getting her air journey standing revoked. The lady, recognized as Nicole Cleland, says she had her World Entry and TSA PreCheck privileges stripped from her after she noticed the actions of ICE brokers within the metropolis.
Cleland lives within the Richfield, a northern suburb metropolis of Minneapolis. For the reason that ICE raids started, she has volunteered with a company devoted to observing immigration agent exercise in her neighborhood.
Whereas performing these volunteered duties to guard her neighborhood, Cleland started following a white Dodge Ram she believed ICE brokers have been driving in.
Cleland and a fellow volunteer started driving separate autos to comply with the ICE brokers from a protected distance. However different ICE agent-driven autos got here alongside, blocking Cleland and the opposite volunteer from driving ahead.
Cleland filed a proper declaration in regards to the incident with the U.S. District Courtroom in Minnesota on Jan. 21. In it, the 56-year-old recalled how the facial recognition occurred.
“An [ICE] agent exited the car and approached my car. I remained in my car. The agent addressed me by my title and knowledgeable me that that they had ‘facial recognition’ and that his physique cam was recording. The agent acknowledged that he labored for border patrol. He wore full camouflage fatigues. The agent acknowledged that I used to be impeding their work. He indicated he was giving me a verbal warning and if I used to be discovered to be impeding once more, I might be arrested,” Cleland wrote.
Right here submitting was a part of a better lawsuit by Minneapolis residents in opposition to the ICE raids and Division of Homeland Safety officers.
She asserted that days later she acquired an e-mail concerning her cancelled World Entry and TSA PreCheck. Nonetheless, she says the notification didn’t listing a motive for the revoked standing.
“…The one one which is smart was ‘The applicant has been present in violation of any customs, immigration, or agriculture rules, procedures, or legal guidelines in any nation.’ I used to be not detained, I used to be not arrested so [it is] obscure how I used to be ‘present in violation.’”
Cleland help she believes the revocation instantly stemmed from her encounter with the ICE agent. She referred to the matter as an act of “intimidation and retaliation,” regardless of behaving in accordance with Authorized Observer legal guidelines.
“I’m involved that border patrol and different federal enforcement businesses now have my license plate and private info, and that I could also be detained or arrested once more sooner or later,” she wrote. “I’m involved about additional actions that may very well be taken in opposition to me or my household…I’ve instructed my household to be cautious and return inside in the event that they see unfamiliar autos exterior of our dwelling.”
Based on the New York Instances, Cleland is one in all a number of different U.S. residents whose faces underwent facial recognition, all with out their consent. The app completes this facial recognition via the assistance of Clearview AI. The tech firm additionally instructed Ars Technica that it initially helped the DHS’ “youngster exploitation and cyber crimes investigations.”
However a contract renewal reveals that ICE additionally makes use of the tech to analyze “assaults in opposition to legislation enforcement officers.”
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