US Customs and Border Protection collected DNA samples from less than 40% of illegal immigrants who stopped at the country’s border in 2022, preventing federal law enforcement from solving violent crime cases, Senator Chuck Grassley alleged this week.
CBP is required to use DNA testing kits on criminal detainees and detained illegal immigrants — but only “collected samples from about 37% of the 1.7 million people it encountered” in fiscal year 2022, according to a May 2023 Government Accountability Office report.
The federal watchdog also noted that the agency is unsure whether the figure includes all undocumented immigrants subject to the requirement between fiscal years 2020 and 2022.
Nor is DNA collected from immigrants deported under Title 42, the pandemic-era health policy initiated by former President Donald Trump.
Federal law enforcement has been prevented from solving criminal cases by failing to collect DNA from illegal immigrants, according to Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Getty Images US Customs and Border Protection is collecting DNA samples from just 37% of illegal immigrants at the country’s border in 2022.REUTERS
In March 2020, the Trump administration strengthened the collection requirements, which for more than a decade did not comply with federal law as set forth in the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005.
In a letter Wednesday to CBP and the Department of Homeland Security, Grassley (R-Iowa) said whistleblowers in contact with his office recently “confirmed” the findings of the GAO report.
Of the 1 million DNA samples collected by CBP between 2020 and 2022, the Republican said 227 people later appeared in the FBI’s crime scene database.
In March 2020, the Trump administration strengthened DNA collection requirements, which for a decade have been inconsistent with federal law as outlined in the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005.REUTERS
The FBI received only 36% of samples from nationwide encounters in 2021 and 2022 — and 1% in 2020.
Based on quarterly reports from the bureau obtained by Grassley’s office, he said, illegal immigrants have been linked to unsolved cases including multi-state burglaries, sexual assaults of minors, and murders.
“Clearly, collecting even minimal DNA samples of illegal immigrants has yielded leads to further investigations and potentially solved cold case crimes against Americans,” Grassley wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller.
Grassley wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (right) and Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller (left), demanding information about the DNA collection failure. WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“CBP’s low percentage of DNA collection on illegal immigrants will undermine the administration of justice 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 removed under Title 42, the number of samples collected and turned over to the FBI in fiscal year 2023, and how many of them which is then tied to crime.
He also requested a status report on implementing the GAO’s recommendations, including the creation of a system to track the reasons for CBP officers’ failure to collect DNA.
Representatives for DHS and CBP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
