U.S. border authorities started a test program in January to take DNA of certain detainees. In April, Customs and Border Protection was given a three-year roadmap for expanding the practice nationwide. Now the agency says that expansion will be done by the end of this year.
Federal officials say Homeland Security was exempt for nearly a decade from a law requiring DNA collection. Then the Justice Department ordered border enforcement agencies to take DNA from certain detained noncitizens, all suspected or convicted of crimes, and people facing deportation. Their genetic sequences then get uploaded to an FBI archive.
Customs and Border Protection is not taking DNA from people held at a port of entry while officials decide if they can enter the U.S., so long as they don’t get sent to detention, or face deportation. CBP says its collection efforts will be nationwide by Dec. 31.
