DNA Tests on Separated Migrant Children Raise Privacy Issues
- U.S. to use cheek swabs to help in reunification with parents
- ‘We just don’t know what they could and will do with the data’
U.S. Border Patrol agents take a father and son from Honduras into custody near the U.S.-Mexico border on June 12, 2018 near Mission, Texas.
Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images
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The Trump administration’s decision to use DNA testing to help reunite children separated from their parents at the Mexican border is sparking concerns among privacy advocates about how data will be used.
The Department of Health and Human Services is analyzing the DNA of some of the nearly 3,000 separated children in U.S. custody, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Thursday in a conference call with reporters. The agency is also testing adults who claim to be a child’s parent to verify familial relationships.