ICE Collected Nearly 1M People's DNA Last Year–Including Young Children

Immigration and Customs Enforcement collected nearly 920,000 DNA profiles in 2025, making the Department of Homeland Security the largest single source of new genetic profiles in the nation's criminal DNA database, despite most detainees having no criminal convictions and immigration violations being civil rather than criminal offenses. The DNA samples, which include those from children held in family detention centers, are permanently stored and can be compared against unsolved crimes nationwide, raising concerns from lawmakers and civil rights advocates about the practice's scope and legality.