DNA Testing at the Border

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is piloting a DNA testing program at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The program aims to establish "DNA-based family relationship (kinship) verification to improve immigration efficiency for legal kinship applicants, reduce kinship fraud, provide for family reunifications, and conduct DNA watch list checks," according to the DHS website.

Rapid Results

It will strive to do this through a process known as Rapid DNA. ANDE, a company founded based on pioneering research conducted at MIT, is the test provider.

ANDE's products are based on a series of enabling microfluidic and molecular biology technologies developed for sample preparation and DNA purification, rapid thermal cycling, highly multiplexed amplification, focused DNA sequencing, optical detection of DNA sequences, and nucleic acid separation and detection. What makes the company's solutions different is that they have been designed for use by non-technical operators outside the laboratory.
The system being used at the border was developed in 2009, when ANDE was awarded the contract for a competitive R&D program sponsored by a consortium of federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and DHS. The result was the development of an automated rapid human DNA identification capability that minimizes analytical complexity and user manipulations for field-forward biometric and forensic applications, with the ability to deliver a fully automated and integrated field-deployable system that rapidly generates human DNA IDs with no user manipulations after inserting a sample into the system.

The ANDE system is currently used by law enforcement professionals worldwide.

Border Control Process

At the border, migrants who are suspected of posing as families to gain asylum will be asked to take DNA tests, which involve swabbing their cheeks and the cheeks of all accompanying children. The ANDE system will process the samples in a small portable machine and return DNA results in 90 minutes.

The test is said to be voluntary, and a consent form must be signed prior to testing. Nevertheless, questions remain. Will non-English speaking people understand what they are consenting to? What happens if they refuse to take a DNA test?

Opponents of the process raise additional valid points, including that a family does not always involve biological relationships. By focusing on DNA matching, "nontraditional" families, which have arguably become traditional, may be separated.

Others cite statistics, including those shared in a recent BuzzFeed article: "In the last year, immigration officials said they've identified about 3,100 people who lied about being part of a family or claimed someone who was over 18 years old was a child. That number represents 1% of the 256,821 family units apprehended at the southern border during that same period."

Despite opposition, DHS is moving forward with the pilot DNA testing program. Whether it will be widely implemented remains to be seen.