United States Senator Ron Wyden has called on the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ) to clarify their practices regarding the large-scale collection of DNA from immigrants, notably children. This demand comes after it was revealed that the U.S. government added DNA from around 133,000 migrant children and teens to a criminal database, which raises concerns about how these individuals may be treated in future criminal investigations.
Wyden criticized the agencies for what he characterized as a "chilling expansion" of their DNA collection system, which has been historically used primarily for criminal identification. He expressed concern that including the DNA of children in the FBI’s CODIS database—generally reserved for violent crime suspects—could lead to these minors being treated as criminal suspects indefinitely.
Recent data shows that Department of Homeland Security has collected genetic material from a significant number of minors, including at least 227 children age 13 or younger. The vast majority of these profiles belong to children from Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and Haiti. Wyden highlighted the implications of this collection, indicating that every time CODIS is searched, these children’s DNA would be at risk of being queried, thereby treating them as potential suspects concerning any future crime.
DHS’s aggressive DNA collection is part of a broader genetic surveillance initiative focused mainly on migrants in civil detention. This development suggests a shift in the government’s approach to surveillance and law enforcement, moving away from its original intent to address violent crime, as articulated by lawmakers when the law was first established.
Critics, including experts from the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology, argue that genetic surveillance is being normalized and could ultimately extend from targeting immigrants to affecting citizens. Wyden’s requests for more transparency into how these DNA samples are collected, stored, and utilized remain unanswered by the relevant authorities.
As the debate continues, civil rights advocates are warning that the growing trend of biometric data collection poses serious risks to the privacy and rights of individuals, particularly those in vulnerable communities. They emphasize that surveillance practices tested on immigrants today could easily be turned against citizens tomorrow.
