Immigration

Iowa Senator sends letter to CBP & DHS demanding answers on ‘alarmingly low’ DNA testing for illegal immigrants

Published

9 months ago

March 4, 2024

In a letter to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting Commissioner Troy Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is calling for answers regarding new data he says shows an “alarmingly low” percentage of DNA samples of illegal immigrants being received by the FBI.

The Republican’s letter cites whistleblower data his office has received related to DNA collection practices of immigrants arriving at the northern and southern border conducted by the CBP.

“Those disclosures show that in the first three quarters of FY23, FBI received an alarmingly low percentage of DNA samples,” Grassley wrote.

“Given the record number of illegal crossings, CBP encounters, and ICE detainees with prior criminal records, CBP and DHS’s continued failure to collect DNA on illegal immigrants is deeply concerning,” he said. “This failure weakens our justice system and empowers criminals to illegally cross our border, jeopardizing American lives.”

Fox News reports on the statistics which Grassley cites: “in Q1 of FY23, there were 865,333 migrant encounters, and 347,231 DNA samples were received by the FBI — about 40%… In Q2, just 31.21% were received by the FBI and in Q3 that number was 37%.”

Grassley cites a number of reports that show examples of crimes illegal immigrants have been connected to via DNA matches, including unsolved cases, even with what he called “insufficient” DNA efforts by federal authorities.

CBP sources told Fox News on Monday that there have been more than 21,000 migrant encounters in the past 72 hours, with Tucson Sector being the busiest with more than 5,400. It’s in line with traditional surges as numbers increase as the Spring arrives, but the numbers suggest it is going to be a significant surge.

In his letter, Grassley also requests data for Q4 and for FY 24 so far, as well as additional plans to implement the DNA Fingerprint Act.

Immigration

Ex-ICE Director Says Trump Deportation Policies Could End Migrant Gang ‘Lawlessness as Quickly as it Began’

Published

17 hours ago

December 2, 2024

Sara Carter Staff

Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Ronald Vitiello has said president-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy plans could successfully bring down the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua (TdA).

Vitiello served as acting director of ICE from June 2018 to April 2019, and told Newsweek that under Trump’s proposed plans the gang could be “dismantled quickly.”

“In the case of Tren de Aragua, they can be dismantled quickly and definitively because their presence in the United States, although dangerous, has just begun,” he continued.

Newsweek reports that TdA is a transnational criminal organization formed in a Venezuelan prison, focuses on human trafficking and other abuses targeting vulnerable migrants.

“They are particularly vulnerable to removal and deportation, and so the United States could end their lawlessness as quickly as it began” said Vitiello who also previously served as the acting deputy commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

TdA has been linked to a string of high-profile crimes, including the murders of nursing student Laken Riley, 22, and Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, as well as taking over a hotel in El Paso.

“We’ve seen deadly examples where illegals who have committed crimes and then went on to do terrible things, as in the case of Laken Reilly near Atlanta, who was killed by an individual from Venezuela who was here illegally and was arrested,” Vitiello said.

TdA is also known as the syndicate of which footage emerged of its armed gang members storming an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. The gang has been linked to a series of high-profile crimes, including murder, sexual assault, and sex trafficking in the U.S.