Human Rights Watch said a proposal by the U.S. Department of Justice to collect DNA samples from immigration detainees violates privacy rights and should be withdrawn. In a response to the DOJ’s request for comments on the proposal, the organization said it violates privacy rights of “hundreds of thousands of people, including children and asylum-seekers.” The response stated collected samples would be stored in a national database, and detainees will be unable to request deletion of their DNA. The “collection and indefinite retention” of genetic data from detainees is “a serious intrusion on privacy that is neither necessary nor proportionate to the goals articulated by the [U.S.] government,” the organization wrote.
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