A US pilot program has begun collecting DNA samples from immigrants who enter the United States without a visa, part of a larger effort to begin collecting the genetic fingerprints from all migrants arrested for violating immigration laws, the Department of Justice said in a press release on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2019) A US pilot program has begun collecting DNA samples from immigrants who enter the United States without a visa, part of a larger effort to begin collecting the genetic fingerprints from all migrants arrested for violating immigration laws, the Department of Justice said in a press release on Monday."The Department of Justice and DHS [Department of Homeland Security] have been working collaboratively to initiate a pilot program for the collection of DNA from non-US persons detained by DHS," the release said. "As with all other DNA samples that federal agencies collect under the authority of the bipartisan DNA Fingerprint Act, the DNA samples that DHS collects from its non-United States person detainees will be entered into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)."
The pilot program marks an effort to prepare for a rule change announced by the Justice Department to bring the Trump administration into compliance with the DNA Fingerprint Act, approved earlier by the Senate and House of Representatives, the release said.
The new rule will require all federal agencies to comply with the DNA fingerprint law, and eliminate the US Attorney General's ability to exempt DHS from the program, according to the release.
