Internal ICE records show the agency collected just 3,609 DNA samples in fiscal 2020 and 16,392 through mid-May 2021. The CODIS collection program instead creates a law enforcement identification profile that can be searched against crime scene evidence. Georgetown identified 492 children under 14 whose profiles CBP sent to the FBI between January 2025 and January 2026. What began as an immigration enforcement requirement would, by then, have become one of the principal foundations of the country’s criminal DNA infrastructure. Article Topicsbiometric database | biometrics | criminal ID | dna | FBI | immigration | U.S. Government