Deportation Inc

ICE Moves to DNA-Test Families Targeted for Deportation with New Contract

Advocates worry the tests will pave the way for the Trump administration to separate children from their caregivers.

Photo illustration: 731; Photographs: Nicolo Filippo Rosso/Bloomberg, Federal Procurement Data System

The Trump administration is seeking to issue a contract worth up to $25 million to DNA-test families being targeted for deportation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The effort coincides with a dramatic increase in immigration arrests in the nation’s interior, with ICE apprehending people at court hearings as well as high school students and families with children who are US citizens — groups ICE has not historically pursued. On Wednesday, CNN reported that ICE has taken roughly 500 children from their homes and into government custody through so-called welfare checks since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.