A Raid On Individual Privacy & Civil Liberties
Department of Homeland Security Will Begin Collecting Full DNA Profiles From Undocumented Immigrants
In a proposal released Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is preparing to implement a DNA-collection program that will authorize Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents and Border Patrol to collect DNA samples from apprehended migrants, regardless of whether the individual is linked to a specific or serious crime. DHS officials have stated that the program is intended to quickly determine family ties between children and parents in ICE custody however, the new rule will have “broad applicability” on a “broad population” of migrants in U.S. custody. The collected DNA will be used not only to determine paternal or maternal connections among migrants and/or their connection to the United States, but to “identify” apprehended migrants and transfer information to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), operated by the FBI.
A draft regulation released earlier this week cites the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005, which allows federal agencies to collect DNA samples from individuals in their custody, including those who have no immigration status or may be undocumented migrants. However, previous Department of Justice regulations have exempted agencies under DHS, including Customs and Border Protection and ICE in certain circumstances. In 2010, then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano even narrowed the exemption, saying people who were not detained on criminal charges and those who were awaiting deportation or were in removal proceedings would not have their DNA collected. The current proposal removes this exemption all together.
Administration officials believe DNA collection will aid border patrol officials in quickly determining whether individuals who cross into the U.S. without authorization. However, the invasive nature and broader scope of collection raises serious concerns, especially when DHS is already using less intrusive identification methods like fingerprinting. Under this new regulation, immigration officials will be able to collect among the most sensitive and private information of a person without any justification and no level of suspicion which ties that person to a specific crime.
As DNA testing remains one of the more invasive actions the government can take, this program begins to confirm that the current administration treats undocumented immigrant more like criminals in that this type of DNA profile is only used in the criminal context. Many, if not all jurisdictions, require convicted felons submit to a DNA profile and federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI generally take DNA samples from arrestees. In those situations, the government has a certain degree of knowledge or suspicion that a serious crime was committed. Now, the government is obtaining a physical substance from an individual’s body, with the ability to learn an almost infinite amount of information about that person while having no underlying criminal suspicion. More shocking, the new program may also target unaccompanied migrant children, who are afforded extra legal protections under U.S. law.
The proposed regulation will not take effect immediately — there will be time for public comment and to allow DHS to develop training procedures, crafted in conjunction with the Department of Justice and the FBI.