U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to acquire advanced iris biometric systems from Bi² Technologies through a sole-source contract, a move that has drawn attention for both its implications on immigration enforcement and its role in expanding biometric surveillance infrastructure nationwide.

According to ICE’s published Notice of Intent, the agency plans to negotiate and award a noncompetitive purchase order for licenses to two systems developed by Bi²: the Inmate Recognition and Identification System (I.R.I.S.) and the Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System (MORIS). ICE justifies the sole-source contract by stating that Bi² Technologies is the only vendor capable of providing these specific systems and maintaining compatibility with its operational requirements.

The deal with Bi² Technologies has not yet been finalized, but the Notice of Intent indicates ICE’s clear direction. With the agency expanding its field and facility-based biometric operations, and with tools like MORIS and I.R.I.S. promising real-time identity verification on the move, the federal government’s investment in iris biometric scanning may soon be a normalized, yet largely invisible, cornerstone of immigration and law enforcement practices in the U.S.

The IRIS platform is designed to collect highly detailed biometric data from the human eye, capturing over 265 unique points from the iris to generate a biometric template for rapid identification.

Long used in correctional facilities, the system enables staff to verify identities during booking, intake, and release, and to authenticate individuals in real time across institutional workflows. It is marketed as a more accurate, non-invasive alternative to traditional fingerprinting or facial recognition.

MORIS is the mobile counterpart and extends iris scanning capabilities to field operations. Compatible with Apple, Android, and Microsoft handheld devices, MORIS enables agents to conduct mobile iris captures and match those images against Bi²’s national iris repository or integrated Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases. The system includes built-in liveness detection and can reportedly function from distances of up to one meter. These features allow real-time identity verification in remote or high-tempo enforcement environments without requiring transport to a centralized processing facility.

This appears to be ICE’s first known contract with Bi² Technologies. A source inside the agency, speaking to 404 Media on condition of anonymity, said they were unaware of any prior collaboration between ICE and the Massachusetts-based firm.

However, Bi² has longstanding relationships with other law enforcement agencies. Its iris capture systems were used in pilot programs for the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, one of the most expansive biometric databases in the U.S., housing fingerprints, facial images, palm prints, and increasingly, iris scans.

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