Commentary on Sections Schedule 1: Enforcement Powers Section 9: Identifying persons liable to detention
67.Currently, if an immigration officer wants to check a person’s biometrics, usually fingerprints, to confirm their identity the person must first give their consent, unless they are either still subject to an immigration examination or have been arrested or detained in which case statutory powers exist which allow for their biometrics to be required. This section amends paragraph 18(2) of Schedule 2 to the 1971 Act to include persons who are liable to be detained, as well as those who have already been detained, as being persons in respect of whom necessary steps can be taken for the purposes of identification, such as fingerprinting and photographing. This power to check biometrics is limited to the purpose of verifying identity as part of an immigration investigation and any biometrics are to be destroyed as soon as that purpose has been fulfilled.