DNA tests for migrants at US border

Washington, July 5: DNA tests are being conducted as part of the process to reunite children who were separated from their immigrant parents at the US border, a top official said. “The safety and security is paramount and that it is not uncommon for children to be trafficked or smuggled by those claiming to be parents. To our knowledge this is a cheek swab and is being done to expedite parental verification and ensuring reunification with verified parents due to child welfare concerns,” the official told CNN late Wednesday.

Jennifer K. Falcon, communications director for RAICES, a non-profit in Texas that offers free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees, called the move deplorable because collecting such sensitive data would allow the government to conduct surveillance on the children “for the rest of their lives”. “This is a further demonstration of administration’s incompetence and admission of guilt, this further drives home the point we’ve been saying. They never registered parents and children properly,” she told CNN. (IANS)