Immigrants Forced to Give DNA
The rights of immigrants in Los Angeles is constantly fought for by Los Angeles immigration defense lawyers such as those at Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin. Recently, a new policy in the United States is forcing immigrants in Los Angeles and the rest of the country to give DNA samples.
The U.S. government will collect DNA samples from people arrested and detained for suspected immigration violations, despite concerns that the move violates their privacy rights. The new Justice Department policy also will expand DNA collection to people arrested on suspicion of committing federal crimes. Previously, the government only obtained DNA from people convicted of certain crimes.
The government is practically finding immigrants in Los Angeles and other parts of the country guilty of crimes they haven’t committed. All the Justice Department will need to collect a blood sample, hair sample or other DNA is an accusation. The samples will be added to the national database and used to make identifications through comparisons with crime scene evidence, according to the Justice Department.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has said the change is designed to prevent violent crimes by deportees who return illegally. Kyl wrote a 2005 law that authorized the department to include pre-conviction DNA samples in its national database.
Los Angeles immigration defense lawyers believe the DNA collection was part of a federal trend to treat immigrants as criminals, even though they were civil detainees. Many detained immigrants in Los Angeles, for example, are housed in county jails alongside suspected and convicted criminals.
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