The US government plans to collect DNA from all detained migrants after illegally entering the United States, Trump administration officials said Wednesday.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working on a program to collect the genetic information of these migrants and to register them in an FBI database, called CODIS, which lists millions of profiles of people arrested or convicted of offenses or crimes. This information could also be used by other law enforcement agencies.
Improve the "ability to identify a person who has entered the country illegally"
DHS officials, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, argued that the policy would give border officials a better idea of the situation of detained migrants. "This will improve our ability to identify someone who has illegally entered the country," said one of the officials. "It will also help other organizations." No implementation date has been set.
Collecting and storing DNA data from detained, but not convicted, people should draw the wrath of civil rights organizations. According to US officials, collecting DNA samples is actually required by Ministry of Justice regulations of 2006 and 2010 on people arrested and convicted, but who have never been implemented. Earlier this year, border guards began conducting "rapid DNA" tests on migrants who had crossed the border with their families to verify the veracity of the family ties claimed by them.
More than 396,000 people detained at the border between the United States and Mexico during fiscal year 2018
But the planned program will allow him to recover much more complete information, and keep them. "This is fundamentally different from fast DNA testing," said a second manager. "This is a much more complete DNA profile". For fiscal year 2018, more than 396,000 people were detained at the United States-Mexico border, with the vast majority coming from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.