U.S. now collecting DNA samples from some migrants

Camilo Montoya-Galvez for CBS News reports that the Trump administration is now implementing a pilot program to collect DNA samples from certain noncitizens in U.S. immigration custody, including teenagers and green card holders. It is the first stage of a controversial plan.

Border Patrol officers in the Detroit sector of the border with Canada and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel at the Eagle Pass, Texas port of entry along the U.S.-Mexico frontier have been instructed to collect DNA from certain migrants. The samples are from cheek swabs. The biometric information would be used to create profiles in a national criminal database run by the FBI. 

The move is the first phase of a five-part, three year Department of Homeland Security initiative to obtain DNA profiles from virtually all migrants in U.S. custody, whether or not they’ve committed crimes.

KJ