U.S. Customs and Border Protection collected DNA samples from fewer than 40% of illegal immigrants detained at the country’s borders in 2022, preventing federal authorities from solving violent criminal cases, the US charged this week. Senator Chuck Grassley.
CBP is required to use DNA testing kits on arrested criminals and detained illegal immigrants, but only “collected samples from approximately 37% of the 1.7 million people it encountered” in fiscal year 2022, according to a report from Government Accountability Office May 2023.
The federal watchdog also noted that the agency was not sure whether that figure included all illegal immigrants subject to the requirement between fiscal years 2020 and 2022.
DNA was also not collected from migrants expelled under Title 42, the pandemic-era health policy initiated by former President Donald Trump.
According to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), federal authorities have been prevented from resolving criminal cases because DNA has not been collected from illegal immigrants. Getty Images US Customs and Border Protection collected DNA samples from only 37% of illegal immigrants at the nation’s borders in 2022.REUTERS
In March 2020, the Trump administration strengthened the collection requirement, which for more than a decade had not been in accordance with federal law as set out in the DNA Fingerprinting Act of 2005.
In a Wednesday letter to CBP and the Department of Homeland Security, Grassley (R-Iowa) said whistleblowers in contact with his office had recently “substantiated” the conclusions of the GAO report.
Of the million DNA samples collected by CBP between 2020 and 2022, the Republican noted that 227 people subsequently appeared in the FBI’s crime scene database.
In March 2020, the Trump administration strengthened the DNA collection requirement, which for a decade had not been in accordance with federal law as set out in the DNA Fingerprinting Act of 2005.REUTERS
The FBI received only 36% of encounter samples nationwide in 2021 and 2022, and 1% in 2020.
According to quarterly bureau reports obtained by Grassley’s office, he said, illegal immigrants have been linked to unsolved cases, including robberies in several states, sexual assaults of minors and homicides.
“Clearly, collecting even minimal DNA samples from illegal immigrants has resulted in new investigative leads and potentially the resolution of unsolved cases of crimes against American citizens,” Grassley wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Acting Commissioner of CBP, Troy Miller.
Grassley wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (right) and CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller (left), demanding information about the failure to collect DNA.WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“CBP’s low rate of DNA collection from illegal immigrants will undermine justice service and allow criminals to enter the United States to commit more crimes and threaten the safety of Americans,” he added.
Grassley demanded that the agencies respond by November 15 and explain their failure to collect DNA samples from illegal immigrants, including those expelled under Title 42, the number of samples collected and sent to the FBI in fiscal year 2023, and how many of them were later linked to crimes.
It also requested a status report on the implementation of GAO recommendations, including the creation of systems to track the reasons why CBP officers did not collect DNA.
Representatives from DHS and CBP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn