The Trump administration has been turning to DNA technology to help find and arrest immigrants, including children, but immigration advocates say it is slow to articulate how it is used and monitor genetic information.
Since last summer, three groups have sued the Department of Homeland Security together after trying to obtain records about data collection plans during the Biden administration.
The plaintiff is the Georgetown Center for Privacy and Technology Law, a part of Georgetown University School of Law, focusing on privacy and surveillance laws and policies; Amica Center for Immigration Rights and the U.S. Center for Immigration Justice, two immigration rights organizations.
The groups described their back and forth in the lawsuit, which was made by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection Measures, as they initially collected information about their DNA collection from non-citizens on August 1, 2024.
Since 2020, DHS has expanded its DNA collection program and has increased its DNA contribution to FBI database Codis by 5,000%, becoming the largest contributor, according to the Georgetown Center. The plaintiff said in a statement that police nationwide can access the FBI's DNA database for criminal investigations.
Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy at the Georgetown Center, said in a statement that the DHS is "collecting DNA from people accused of crime-free, without any restrictions until the government forces someone to force their most sensitive personal information."
He said Americans should gain more visibility on the program, saying that the DHS lacks transparency is unacceptable.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The previous administration also collected DNA, Daniel Melo, senior chief of staff at Amica Immigration Impact Laboratory, told NBC News. The 2005 law requires federal agencies to collect DNA from detainees, including non-citizens.
Merlot said before 2020, the Justice Department told DHS that its immigration enforcement and border agents do not have to regularly collect DNA from every non-citizen it detains. The Biden administration has adopted rules requiring full compliance with the 2005 law, but whistleblowers and government watchdogs complain about unbalanced compliance.
The “Security Our Boundaries” executive order signed by President Donald Trump requires the Attorney General and DHS to comply with non-citizens’ requirements for DNA collection under the 2005 law.
Privacy and civil rights groups have long had problems with the government’s DNA collection program. Mello said the public should be concerned about whether to raise their rights to people and how information is collected and used.
“This information can be mapped in a variety of ways to build a complete community, essentially building a more complex surveillance network in non-citizen communities,” Mello said.
He said that if DHS could continue to collect non-citizen DNA and essentially “experiment” on them, they could perfect these technologies and deploy them in novel and interesting new technologies and possibly new dangerous and terrible ways for the rest of us. ”
"DHS' DNA collection program is considered 'immily Tucker, executive director of the Georgetown Center, said in a statement: "
"Trump is using immigration powers to justify the activities of his military federal police force, as there is little responsibility for institutions or judicial oversight or enforcement actions, citing "the actions of immigration authorities," she said in a statement. "The process is part of the massive surveillance Dragon Network, which sweeps information about everyone. They will use it for deportation, but they will also use it to intimidate, silence and target anyone they believe is the enemy."