ICE DNA Collection Surges to Nearly 1 Million People Last Year, Internal Documents Show
Internal documents obtained by Wired reveal that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) collected DNA from nearly 1 million people over the course of a single year—a dramatic surge compared to previous years. The collection effort has been especially aggressive under the second Trump administration, according to the report.
Among those whose genetic data was gathered were young children, raising additional legal and ethical concerns. Perhaps most significantly, a substantial portion of the individuals added to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) were never convicted of any crime. Their profiles now reside permanently in a database intended for criminal investigations.
DNA collection has historically been reserved for individuals arrested or convicted of offenses. Civil liberties advocates have long warned that expanding DNA databases to include non-convicted individuals—particularly undocumented immigrants—sets a concerning precedent, as genetic data is uniquely sensitive and heritable, affecting not just the individual but their family members as well.
The scale of the operation underscores how biometric surveillance infrastructure has grown substantially, with immigration enforcement serving as a significant driver of DNA database expansion in the United States.