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Customs and Border Protection rebuked by watchdog and whistleblowers for 'failure' to collect DNA from migrant detainees
 [Washington Examiner] A federal watchdog agency has joined a group of whistleblowers in alleging Customs and Border Protection failed to collect DNA from detained migrants to be checked against the FBI’s database for violent crimes.Fox News reported the whistleblowers claim the pilot program to collect DNA was put on hold during President Barack Obama’s administration, and efforts to institute it under President Trump’s administration were derailed. "U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and illegal aliens in this country are and have been harmed due to our agency not collecting DNA," Mike Taylor, one of the government whistleblowers, said. "There is no current pilot program. It’s basically dead in the water," another whistleblower, Fred Wynn, noted. The whistleblowers filed a complaint in 2018 with the Office of Special Counsel, a different entity from Robert Mueller’s former office. The OSC issued a statement of support for the whistleblowers Monday. "OSC fully supports these whistleblowers. While OSC does not typically comment on open investigations, we do want to point out that in this case, the Special Counsel determined there was a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing by CBP for its failure to collect DNA from undocumented detainees and arrestees," spokesman Zachary Kurz said in a statement. Kurz said that special counsel Henry Kerner met with former acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner John Sanders and current Deputy Commissioner Bob Perez to urge them to revisit the decision not to collect the DNA. Records from the whistleblowers indicate that the program stalled under the Obama administration when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano received a waiver from Attorney General Eric Holder that noted "severe organizational, resource and financial challenges." The Customs and Border Protection pilot program was designed to take samples that would be run against the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was asked about the program in April 2018 while testifying before Congress. "We’re working on the pilot right now," Nielsen said. "We’re in the planning stages and doing it in batches. Some of it is processing. We want to make sure we have the chain of custody." Jose Ines Garcia Zarate deported how many times ?  Despite that statement, the whistleblowers claim there was a Homeland Security conference call that continued to place the program on hold. At the time of Nielsen’s testimony, now-acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan was the head of Customs and Border Protection. A DHS official confirmed in a Monday statement to the news organization that the program remains on pause. "In response to further inquiries specific to the DNA collection for CODIS; CBP in coordination with DHS has explored and evaluated the DNA program in relation to the DNA collection for inclusion into CODIS. Upon review, it’s been determined that the exceptions noted in the 2010 waiver remain unchanged. There are currently no plans to change this waiver but DHS is moving forward on a DNA testing pilot to verify familial relationships," the official said. Posted by: Besoeker 2019-08-22 |
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