The Justice Department announced Monday it wants the Department of Homeland Security to collect DNA samples from migrants detained either at the border or inside the country.
The Justice Department said the proposed rule, which it stated was authorized under a 2005 law, would “facilitate federal, state, and local crime reduction and investigation efforts.” The department said its new rule would ensure that all federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, were in compliance with that law.
The bipartisan DNA Fingerprint Act authorized the attorney general, currently William Barr, to order any federal agency to “collect DNA samples from individuals who are arrested, facing charges, or convicted or from non-United States persons who are detained under the authority of the United States,” but a federal rule in 2008 allowed homeland security to consult with the Justice Department to exempt itself from collecting DNA samples from noncitizen detainees. The department said this new rule would do away with that exemption.
The proposed rule change is “a lawful exercise of the attorney general’s authority provided by Congress,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
The FBI runs a national DNA sample processing database — the Combined DNA Index System — which began as a pilot program in 1990 and was strengthened by the 2005 law. Investigators at all levels and in all states consider the database a vital tool, allowing federal, state, and local forensic laboratories to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically to identify alleged criminals. The FBI says its National DNA Index contains nearly 14 million offender profiles that have assisted in nearly 500,000 investigations.
Customs and Border Patrol announced earlier this month they found close to 980,000 migrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019’s fiscal year, which ran from October 2018 through September 2019, an increase from roughly 500,000 migrants in 2018. Border agents arrested approximately 851,000 migrants in 2019’s fiscal year, the most since 2007.
The Justice Department also said it had been working with the Department of Homeland Security on a pilot program in advance of the rule change, and stated that the FBI’s DNA lab will have the ability to handle what would potentially be a massive influx of DNA samples from homeland security.
“The FBI will provide DHS with the DNA collection kits, analyze the samples, and ensure that law enforcement agencies use the results in accordance with the FBI’s stringent CODIS privacy requirements,” the Justice Department said Monday.
The announcement is just the latest effort by the Justice Department to step up enforcement of immigration laws. Last week, the Trump administration announced a record 110,000 prosecutions of migrants who illegally crossed or smuggled people over the border in 2019’s fiscal year.
