Richfield observer says her Global Entry was revoked days after tense encounter with Border Patrol
As the immigration crackdown continues in Minnesota, Nicole Cleland, a resident of Richfield, Minnesota, believes federal agents identified her through facial recognition software.
Cleland has actively protested against the deployment of federal agents in the Twin Cities. She says she's a trained observer, following officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection. Her account is detailed in a lawsuit filed alongside other observers against the Department of Homeland Security
On Jan. 10, Cleland says she was following a truck with federal agents inside.
"I was following at a safe distance. I was going the speed limit or less than that, not driving erratically at all," she said.
That's when Cleland says federal agents blocked the road and one walked up to her car.
"I rolled down my window about an inch so I could hear him, and the first thing he said was, 'Are you Nicole?'" she explained.
Cleland described the unmasked Border Patrol agent as stern while warning that he was using facial recognition and his body camera was rolling.
"He said, 'I'm giving you a warning. This is the only verbal warning that you're going to get,'" Cleland recounted.
One source briefed on DHS tactics confirmed to CBS News that Border Patrol uses facial recognition software, including Mobile Fortify, to scan the faces of demonstrators.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Monday all federal immigration agents in Minneapolis will begin wearing body cameras. Although federal agents already wear body cameras in some cases. DHS has body camera footage from multiple federal agents who were on the scene for Alex Pretti's death, CBS News previously reported.
Cleland said three days after that interaction with Border Patrol, she received an email notice that said her Global Entry was revoked.
"You can click on a link and there is a letter that just says, 'Your status has been changed. We're not obligated to give you any reason for that change,'" Cleland said after showing WCCO the revocation notice.
Cleland says she's used Global Entry since 2014 and was reapproved in 2024. Global Entry status typically lasts for five years.
While CBP did not share a reason, Cleland describes the timing as "pretty coincidental," noting she had no issues with the traveler program in the past.
"There has been no new directive from CBP on global entry revocations. Body-worn cameras are utilized to document encounters and are not equipped with CBP's facial comparison technology," a spokesperson from CBP told WCCO.
Cleland says she's less concerned with losing Global Entry and more focused on what could have caused her to lose it.
"Of those methods in which [the government is] tracking people, which of them are actually legal and how many of them are actually interfering with our privacy and our personal security?" Cleland said.