Trump administration to collect DNA from immigrant detainees

The Trump administration recently announced a new policy regarding migrant detainees’ DNA collection. The policy was first introduced last October, but no final decision was set in place until this past Monday, as reported by NPR. The policy modifies the terms of the DNA Fingerprint Act, a law passed by Congress in 2005. It requires taking DNA samples from anyone arrested and any non-U.S. citizens detained in the United States, according to The Washington Post.

The DNA collected will be from those detained by U.S. border agents along the U.S.-Mexico border and will be given to the FBI to be kept in its Combined DNA Index System, otherwise known as CODIS, according to NBC News. CODIS is used similarly to the FBI’s fingerprint database in terms of helping to identify suspects at crime scenes. 

Previously, the Department of Homeland Security was exempted from having to collect DNA from detained immigrants due to their lack of manpower, according to NBC News. But now, the Trump administration has cited that the process will be easier and more cost effective 

The new policy is meant to allow law enforcement to better identify criminals both presently and in the future, reported The Washington Post. The DNA samples being placed into CODIS would allow for law enforcement to cross reference any samples found at a crime scene with those in the database, according to NPR. 

There is concern that these new DNA samples will be used for purposes other than identifying suspects, such as surveillance, according to NPR. The Trump administration has claimed that this information will only be used for identification and will not be used for any type of surveillance, but some still remain concerned. 

There is also much controversy surrounding this new policy among civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims that it will further stigmatize immigrants along and that the policy is ‘racist’, ‘xenophobic’ and a ‘human rights violation.’ Some also fear that this new policy would put immigrants at risk for possible mistakes made in DNA forensics.

Some MCPS students also believe that this policy is a violation of human rights. “It is a violation of human rights because it’s wrong to just take someone’s DNA. That’s their property,” Rockville junior Yerson Amaya said. “I think this policy could work the way they want it to, but it’s going against immigrants.”

Maryland, particularly Montgomery County, is a very diverse community with Montgomery County schools being 23.4 percent of students of Hispanic origin.

Many also believe the policy suggests that immigrants are more likely to be involved in a crime, especially since members of the Trump administration have previously suggested that immigrants pose a criminal threat to the U.S., according to both NBC News and NPR. 

Article by Alexandra Amaya of Rockville High School

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