The Trump administration is moving to begin collecting DNA samples from hundreds of thousands of people booked into federal immigration custody each year for entry into a national criminal database, an immense expansion of the
US Government plans to begin DNA testing on detained immigrants
They warned that US citizens, who are sometimes accidentally booked into immigration custody, could also be forced to hand over their private genetic information.
"That kind of mass collection alters the purpose of DNA collection from one of criminal investigation basically to population surveillance," said Vera Eidelman, a staff lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. She said that because genetic material carries strong family connections, the data collection would have implications for family members.
Homeland Security officials, in a call with reporters, said the new initiative was permitted under the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005.
The officials said the proposed rule was inspired partly by a pilot program conducted this summer along the southwestern border, in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used rapid DNA sampling technology to identify "fraudulent family units" — adults who were using children disguised as their own to exploit special protections for families with immigrant children.
The new programme would differ from the pilot in that it would provide a comprehensive DNA profile of individuals who are tested, as opposed to the more narrow test that was used only to determine parentage. And unlike the pilot programme, the results would be shared with other law enforcement agencies.
NY Times:
Written by: Caitlin Dickerson
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