U.S. Attorney General William Barr has issued a new rule for the Department of Justice (DOJ), that will allow federal authorities to start gathering DNA information on the approximately 748,000 immigrants annually that present themselves at legal ports of entry. The federal officials said they would create a huge (criminal) database of information of individual migrants. Barr has stated that they just want a “genetic fingerprint” that can uniquely identify a person but without other personal information being disclosed.
Naureen Shah, Senior Advocacy and Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stated, “It’s the most intimate information that you can take from someone. It is information you can use to find their family members, to know their histories,”. She also stated, “And we’re going to be taking it from people against their will.”
The Rule: DNA-Sample Collection from Immigration Detainees (.PDF)
For further details please review the NPR News Article, “Justice Department Announces Plan To Collect DNA From Migrants Crossing The Border”.
ACLU has setup a web page to gather comments about the new rule for the DOJ, they are accepting them until November 12th.
Act now: Submit your public comment against forced DNA collection. The DOJ is accepting comments until Nov. 12 – so your comment could be the difference it takes to stop this proposed rule.
Source of Information:
NPR (NPR.org), 10/21/19, News Article:
Justice Department Announces Plan To Collect DNA From Migrants Crossing The Border