Published 20:26 IST, October 21st 2019
US stepping up efforts to collect DNA samples from asylum-seekers
The Trump administration amended regulations to step up its effort to collect DNA samples from asylum-seekers detained by immigration officials in the US.
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The Trump administration is stepping up its efforts to collect DNA samples from asylum-seekers detained by immigration officials and the Justice Department will publish amended regulations to achieve the objective. The regulation will also ensure the collection of DNA from detained migrants.
FBI database
According to a Justice Department official, the information will be added to the database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The rule will not be applicable to legal permanent residents or anyone entering the country legally. However, there is no clarity on whether asylum-seekers who come through official crossings will be exempted.
Trump’s tough stance on migrants
President of United States Donald Trump has been tough on asylum-seekers and has been constantly asking for stricter regulations, especially on the southern border. He once also hailed his administration claiming that the number of undocumented migrants staying in the US had been decreasing rapidly. Trump has been accusing the Democrats and courts of forcing migrants into the United States.
.....Now, if you really want to fix the Crisis at the Southern Border, both humanitarian and otherwise, tell migrants not to come into our country unless they are willing to do so legally, and hopefully through a system based on Merit. This way we have no problems at all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2019
“It’s not surprising, given this administration’s fixation on villainizing folks at the border, but it reaches beyond them,” said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Vera Eidelman.
Shutting down US-Mexico border crossing
Recently, the Gateway International Bridge at the US-Mexico border was shut down by the authorities after hundreds of migrants blocked the crossing. The migrants from Central America, seeking asylum in the US, included women and children. The US officials allow a limited number of asylum-seekers in a day under a policy called ‘metering’. The US authorities, later, opened the bridge, which connects Matamoros and Brownville, as the migrants left after brokering a deal with the local officials. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said that their officials have barred nearly one million migrants at the southern border in the past year.
(With Inputs from Agencies)
Updated 21:07 IST, October 21st 2019