These new ICE Glasses, building on available glasses that allow video recording and heads-up data display, will be able to pulse vast federal holdings of biometric data — from facial recognition to walking gait — to identify people in real-time.

Per the budget document:

“The project will deliver innovative hardware, such as operational prototypes of smart glasses, to equip agents with real-time access to information and biometric identification capabilities in the field.”

A Department of Homeland Security attorney who spoke to me on the condition of anonymity said of the ICE Glasses project, “It might be portrayed as seeking to identify illegal aliens on the streets, but the reality is that a push in this direction affects all Americans, particularly protestors.” The official also says that the technologies and algorithms behind the smart glasses are as applicable to general government surveillance as they are to the current immigration war.