By Stuart Kerr, Technology Correspondent
📅 Published: July 5, 2025 | Last Updated: July 5, 2025
📧 liveaiwire.com | 🐦 @liveaiwire
Digital Walls and Invisible Gates
At Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport, passengers no longer queue before an immigration officer. Instead, they walk through biometric scanners that record facial data, cross-match it with global watchlists, and make instant decisions — all before a single word is spoken.
This isn’t science fiction. It’s the new normal, as artificial intelligence systems take over roles once held by human border agents. Governments around the world are turning to AI to secure borders, process visas, and detect “high-risk” individuals. But in doing so, they may be creating a new form of border — one governed by code, not customs.
Automation in the Name of Security
The rise of AI in immigration control has been driven by a mix of policy pressure and technological ambition. Amid record levels of displacement and migration — fuelled by conflict, climate change, and economic instability — countries have sought scalable, “intelligent” systems to manage the surge.
According to the European Parliamentary Research Service, EU border agencies are increasingly turning to AI systems — including biometric identification, facial recognition, and risk profiling tools — to manage immigration and security more efficiently.
Proponents argue that these tools help identify fraud, reduce administrative burden, and improve national security. But critics say they introduce new risks — including racial profiling, wrongful denials, and violations of international human rights law.
Profiling by Proxy
At the heart of the concern is how these AI systems are trained. Many rely on historical datasets that contain biased or flawed information — skewed by decades of discriminatory policing or immigration policies. When algorithms learn from biased data, they don’t correct history. They repeat it.
A 2023 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism warned that automated border tools “risk entrenching structural discrimination,” particularly against people of colour and migrants from formerly colonised nations. In some cases, the mere country of origin can trigger enhanced screening — even in the absence of any red flags.
There’s also the issue of consent. Many travellers are unaware that their biometric data is being stored, analysed, or shared. And because immigration systems are often exempt from transparency rules, it’s difficult to challenge or even understand how these decisions are made.
From Refugee to Risk Score
Perhaps the most controversial use of AI is in asylum processing. In the Netherlands, Germany, and Canada, machine learning tools are being piloted to assess the “credibility” of refugee claims — flagging inconsistencies in applicants’ stories based on language use, travel history, and behavioural analysis.
These systems turn trauma into data. They reduce human suffering into probabilities. And as LiveAIWire explored in AI in Humanitarian Crises: Can Machines Show Mercy?, the moral calculus becomes murky when software determines the fate of the displaced.
Immigration experts warn that AI cannot understand cultural context, psychological trauma, or fear. Yet increasingly, it is being asked to.
Legal Battles and Regulatory Gaps
Despite the rapid adoption of these tools, there is little consistent regulation. The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, passed in 2024, classifies border-control AI as “high-risk,” requiring robust oversight. However, enforcement remains patchy, and many systems operate in legal grey zones under national security exceptions.
In the UK, the Independent Monitoring Authority is investigating the use of facial recognition by Border Force after several instances of false positives. In the U.S., civil liberties groups have filed lawsuits against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) over its use of algorithmic surveillance in immigrant communities.
Legal scholars argue that any AI system with life-altering consequences — such as determining the right to enter or remain in a country — should be subject to strict audits, public scrutiny, and clear human accountability.
Looking Ahead: A Borderless Ethic?
Technology has always been a part of immigration control. But the move from metal detectors to neural networks marks a profound shift. It transforms borders from physical checkpoints into pervasive data regimes — ones that follow migrants long after they’ve crossed.
As LiveAIWire noted in The Delicate Balance of AI in Law Enforcement, security and liberty are often seen as opposing forces. But when AI governs mobility, the stakes become global.
Are we building smart borders — or silent ones?
And who gets to question the code?
About the Author
Stuart Kerr is LiveAIWire’s Technology Correspondent and Editor. You can follow his work at 👉 liveaiwire.com/p/to-liveaiwire-where-artificial.html or reach out via @liveaiwire or liveaiwire.com.
