US immigration officials are now collecting DNA samples from migrants, including minors, and entering them into a nationwide criminal database, according to recently disclosed government records.
This DNA database, operated by the FBI and known as the Combined DNA Index System (Codis), typically holds profiles of individuals who have been charged with or convicted of crimes. Law enforcement relies on it to find matches from crime scene DNA. But here’s the twist — the vast majority of migrants whose DNA is being gathered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) haven’t been accused of any crime at all. Despite this, CBP is building permanent DNA profiles of these individuals, raising serious concerns about a “massive expansion of genetic surveillance,” experts warn.
The Codis system is used by law enforcement agencies at all levels — local, state, and federal — to help track down suspects using genetic data. The revelations were first reported by Wired, which estimates that DNA from more than 133,000 migrant children and teens has been uploaded — one as young as four years old.
“As part of our mission to protect our borders, we are using all resources to determine who’s entering the U.S.,” said Hilton Beckham, CBP’s Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs. “We will not allow human traffickers, child exploiters, or criminals to enter American communities. That’s why we collect DNA samples from individuals in CBP custody — particularly those facing federal charges or subject to mandatory fingerprinting — and send them to the FBI’s Codis system.”
A recent report by Georgetown University’s Center on Privacy and Technology found that CBP collects DNA from nearly every detained migrant, no matter how briefly they are held. Since 2020, CBP has added over 1.5 million DNA profiles to Codis — a 5,000% increase in just three years. Report co-author Emerald Tse called the practice an “unjustified invasion of privacy” and a huge leap in surveillance.
Tse emphasized that the program promotes damaging stereotypes about immigrants and strengthens discriminatory policing in immigrant and minority communities, ultimately compromising public safety.
The CBP documents provide extensive detail — listing each individual’s age, origin country, transfer details, and charges (if any). Records go back to 2020 and stretch through the first quarter of 2025. In that timeframe, DNA was collected from hundreds of thousands of people. Among them, over 130,000 were minors, including nearly 230 children under 13 and more than 30,000 between the ages of 14 and 17, Wired reported.
CBP kicked off a pilot program in 2020 to begin DNA collection in line with a Department of Justice directive, which gave the agency three years to comply. At that time, the policy stated that DNA would be collected from non-citizens aged 14 to 79. While CBP and Homeland Security policies say children under 14 are generally exempt, field agents have some flexibility.
According to the Georgetown report, the sheer volume of DNA collected would be unrealistic in the criminal justice system, where more stringent legal safeguards exist. Before 2020, DNA samples in Codis were primarily submitted by state and local law enforcement, under strict rules limiting when and how DNA could be collected.
In immigration enforcement, those restrictions don’t apply.
“The only legal requirement is that someone is ‘detained,’” the report explains. “And in immigration, that word is ambiguous, broad, and constantly shifting.”
The CBP website states that the agency does not store the DNA itself. Instead, samples are sent straight to the FBI, where they are held indefinitely, according to the report.
The authors of the report pose a chilling question: “Imagine the government has a drop of your blood or saliva — containing your entire genetic code — locked in a cold-storage facility in Northern Virginia, forever. Would you still feel free to get medical help, attend a protest, or meet up with friends and family?”
Description:
"Discover how US immigration authorities are collecting and storing DNA from migrants, including children, in a national criminal database. This shocking expansion of genetic surveillance raises serious privacy concerns and impacts immigrant communities across the country."