Congress demands answers why Biden DHS ending border tool key to stopping child exploitation

A half-dozen members of Congress are demanding answers from the Biden Homeland Security Department about why it is ending genetic testing at the border that has been key to detecting fraudulent immigration and child sex trafficking.

The letter Thursday night led by House Oversight subcommittee chairman Glen Grothman, R-Wis.,was prompted by the publication this week of an internal Customers Border Protection memo by Just the News that revealed it was ending DNA familial testing at the =end of May.

‘Since 2019, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have performed familial DNA testing on some family units to ensure the safety and security of minors and prevent them from being exploited by adults,” the lawmakers wrote acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller. “This testing has led DHS to detect numerous attempts of familial fraud at the southern border..          

“Given the numerous identified cases and reports of exploitation of children in fraudulent family units, it is alarming that CBP will cease DNA testing for family units, which is an important tool to identify and prevent human trafficking and exploitation,” the lawmakers added.

You can read that letter here:

In an interview with the Just the News, No Noise television show, Grothman said the decision to end the DNA testing is “just to me unimaginable” and will likely embolden drug cartels to traffic more foreign children into sex and drug operations.

“The border is not under control of the Border Patrol,” he said.”The border is under control by the Mexican drug cartels. And that is a reason why you should be especially concerned if a child is coming across with someone who is not related to them.”

Grothman’s letter cited some startling statistics:

• Between 1 and 3 out of every 10 children tested for DNA at the border proved not be the children of the adults that claimed to be their relatives
• 60% of unaccompanied minors crossing the border are forced into child pornography and drug trafficking by the cartels
• 27% of human trafficking victims are children

“This situation is a direct result of the failed policies the current administration has chosen to implement with respect to border security,” the lawmakers said. “Such policies have aided and empowered the cartels in their human trafficking efforts.”

Other members of the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs to sign the letter included Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Clay Higgins, R-La., Pete Sessions, R-Texas, Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., and Jake LaTurner, R-Kan.

The letter demands documents and answers to questions, including why the DNA testing contract was ended as of May 31, what officials made the decision, what if any other contingencies were considered to protect children and how many many times in the last three years did DNA tests detect fraudulent migrants.

The revelations on the DNA testing comes just a month after Grothman and his subcommittee revealed the Biden administration glost track of 85,000 unaccompanied minor children who were let into the country and placed into homes.

​The DNA testing was originally implemented in the Trump-era and utilized by Customs Border Protection – following a court order related to the separation of migrant children from their families and evidence drug cartels were using children to create fake family units to sneak illegal immigrants across the border. 

But over the weekend, a CBP memo sent to frontline border agents announced the testing will cease when its vendor contract expires this month. 

"The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) familial DNA contract with BODE Technologies will end on May 31, 2023 and all familial DNA testing will conclude on that date," the memo reads. 

LEAKED MEMO_Redacted.pdf

The memo also states  such collecting and testing of familial DNA  is "separate" from "booking" DNA collection, which is done by the FBI, and that BODE’s expiring contract "does not impact collections as part of the CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) program," which is expected to proceed “uninterrupted.”

CBP has identified numerous family fraud attempts by illegals over the years. In 2022, a DHS inspector general report found that roughly 1 in 10 (8.5%) of children tested turned out not to be related to the illegal aliens who were crossing with them.