The Trump administration plans to extract genetic material from undocumented migrants in their custody, according to a draft regulation obtained by BuzzFeed News. The US Department of Homeland Security has yet to comment on the matter.
If the regulation comes into force, it would authorise officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect and test DNA from hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens on an annual basis.
The document also stipulates that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would use software enabling them to collect genetic material from any undocumented migrant in custody in just five minutes.
The goal is to clamp down on migration fraud and keep criminals from entering the US.
The regulation is expected to provide a mechanism to grapple with the influx of families arriving at the US southern border, with many of them allegedly lying about their familial relations in order to bypass migration laws.
Washington’s plans to collect DNA testing from undocumented migrants comes after a team of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents were deployed in April to the US-Mexico border, where they uncovered 316 fraudulent families and detected 599 bogus migration documents.
“It’s very clear that the cartels and smugglers know the weaknesses in our laws. They know that family units and unaccompanied children will be released with no consequences for their illegal entries,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said at the time.
His remarks come as the Trump administration has been making efforts to stop illegal migration into the US, even threatening to close the southern border or impose tariffs on Mexican vehicles imported into the country.
The construction of the wall on the US-Mexican border was one of Donald Trump's main campaign pledges, but the US President has subsequently struggled to find financing after Congress refused to allocate sufficient funds from the federal budget.