Newly uncovered government data reveals that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been quietly collecting DNA samples from nearly 2,000 U.S. citizens, including minors, and funneling them into the FBI’s criminal DNA database, CODIS. Despite legal limits designed to restrict genetic collection to criminal suspects, CBP has swept up civil detainees and children, often without charges or proper justification. This unauthorized mass genetic surveillance poses grave civil rights risks, potentially subjecting innocent individuals to lifelong scrutiny by law enforcement. 

Vice President of U.S Advocacy and Litigation, Anthony Enriquez, said, “The Department of Homeland Security has been piloting a secret DNA collection program of American citizens since 2020. Now, the training wheels have come off. In 2025, Congress handed DHS a $178 billion check, making it the nation’s costliest law enforcement agency, even as the president gutted its civil rights watchdogs and the Supreme Court repeatedly signed off on unconstitutional tactics.”

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