DHS and ICE to Start DNA Testing

Justice Jones
Background
It is no secret that the American and Mexican border has been a hot topic of discussion
in the news ever since the 2016 election.

People have heard of family separation, arrests and even putting children in cages, and
of course the never ending debate of the wall.

According to the CBP in March of 2019 there were 92.000 arrests of undocumented
immigrants at the border. This compares to 37,390 arrests in March of 2018.
Map
DHS
It is the DHS’s responsibility to keep America safe and lately there focus has been on
the southern border. More DHS officials are being sent there all the time in attempt to
limit the amount of illegal immigrants entering through the border.

There official statement is that there goal is never to separate children from their
families and that there are only three situations in which they might do this which are:
when DHS is unable to determine family relationship, when DHS determines that a
child may be at risk with parent or legal guardian, or when the parent is referred for
criminal prosecution.
Trafficking
DHS and the government have warned that immigrant children are being exploited by
traffickers to get around immigration laws.

DHS can’t hold children for more than 20 days which means they are often released
back to their families, however DHS is concerned that these people are just pretending
to be family. They have said that there was a 315% increase in fake family cases from
October 2017 to February 2018.
Identification
What they have been doing
Border patrol has been taking fingerprints and photographs of minors under the age of
14 to keep on file.

What they are starting to do

DHS has announced that they will be doing rapid DNA testing which consists of tests
such as a mouth swab. The results are supposed to come within 90 minutes. DHS and
ICE believe that this is the best way to protect kids and make sure they are ending up
in the right place.
Sparks
Do you think the DNA testing is justified?

Is there a better way we can solve this problem?

Sources
CNN

DHS