Border officers are using facial recognition to identify and punish people for sex work, and the government won't say how the system works. Escort Gigi Lenoir recently warned online that a friend was pulled aside at the U.S. border, shown printouts of her website, and banned from the country for five years, apparently matched by an algorithm scanning her face against her own advertising photos.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson did not deny the practice, stating only that the agency "uses technology, including biometric tools, to support lawful border security operations, verify traveler identity, and facilitate legitimate travel." That vague answer covers a system with real consequences: even a U.S. citizen with dual nationality was pulled into secondary screening and interrogated about her income and travel patterns despite the fact that citizens cannot legally be barred from returning home.

The same immigration system that treats sex work as grounds for exclusion also hands out O-1 "extraordinary ability" visas to some of the most popular OnlyFans performers, based on follower counts alone. That contradiction shows an enforcement system driven by opaque algorithms and inconsistent rules, not clear standards or public safety.

People should not be secretly tracked, profiled, and banned from the country by a facial recognition system the government refuses to explain. CBP and the Department of Homeland Security must disclose how this technology is used and stop applying it to punish sex workers who pose no security threat. Sign the petition to demand transparency and an end to secret facial recognition targeting at the border before more people are banned without explanation.