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Why are we ending DNA testing at the border?

AP Photo/Gregory Bull

All throughout the Biden border crisis (and even before that, because it started under Trump), Customs and Border Patrol agents have been collecting and storing DNA samples from illegal aliens crossing the southern border. Only a relatively tiny amount of them are tested in reality because the numbers have been overwhelming. But the data that we do manage to collect has proven to be of great value in some cases, particularly when it comes to human trafficking. That’s about to change, however, but not in the form of collecting more data. CBP received orders from the Biden administration and sent a memo to frontline agents telling them that all familial DNA testing will stop later this month. (Just The News)

The Biden administration is set to end familial DNA testing at the US-Mexico border, which has been key to preventing the fraudulent entry of many illegal immigrants and mitigating child trafficking, according to a memo obtained by Just The News.

The DNA testing was originally implemented in the Trump-era and utilized by Customs Border Protection – following a court order related to the separation of migrant children from their families and evidence drug cartels were using children to create fake family units to sneak illegal immigrants across the border.

The memo notes that this contract only applies to familial DNA testing. The practice of “booking” DNA collection which is done by the FBI in various circumstances will “proceed uninterrupted.” But the familial testing is extremely important, particularly when it comes to the southern border.

The end of the testing will coincide with the date when a vendor contract expires this month. That may sound convenient, but what is the logic behind this? Are we running so low on money that we can’t even afford DNA test kits for law enforcement? Is the industry running out of test kits? Why can’t they simply renew the contract?

This makes absolutely no sense. Human trafficking in general and child trafficking in particular has been a huge problem on the border. Many migrants show up claiming to have family members with them, but in plenty of cases, DNA testing revealed that there was no blood connection between the “parent” and the child and that the child was being trafficked.

Further, having a database of DNA from illegals crossing the border could later prove critical if they are arrested for other crimes inside of the country. Verifying the identities of the migrants is a massive challenge and it’s generally admitted that we don’t really know who many of them actually are. And for any of you who default to raising objections to testing over digital data and privacy rights, forget about it. Sorry, pal, but you signed away your privacy rights when you chose to enter our country illegally.

What could have possibly driven this decision? The White House isn’t saying yet, but let’s just say I have my suspicions. Joe Biden set to work on day one trying to undo every policy that Donald Trump put in place, particularly when it comes to border security. This was a Trump-era policy. Would Biden really be so petty as to curtail an important law enforcement tool like this just as another snub to the Bad Orange Man? I’m not ruling out the possibility. That’s all I’m saying.

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Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | December 16, 2024
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