BORDER/DHS/ICE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration will start piloting a Rapid DNA testing program at the US-Mexico border in an attempt to ‘identify and prosecute individuals posing as families,’ two Department of Homeland Security officials told CNN. The pilot will reportedly run for two to three days to ‘assess the usefulness of this technology in an investigative process,’ according to the acting deputy director of ICE. Questioning the justification for the DNA program is necessary, especially when the administration has the propensity to distort or misrepresent statistics, lodge claims about the border without clear evidence, and even lie. We must also recognize the DNA testing program for what it is: yet another attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate and deter asylum seekers. It miscasts individuals seeking asylum at the border as criminals. It builds off that narrative to conduct increasingly intrusive biometric tests on a vulnerable population. And it uses the pretext of the border to extend the government’s surveillance infrastructure. When forced, DNA collection raises serious privacy and civil liberties concerns. ”
–Vera Eidelman, “The dangers of the government’s DNA testing program,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 9, 2019 11:13 pm