PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) is raising concerns over the Trump administration expanding a program that allows immigration enforcement agents to collect DNA from detained immigrants.

In a letter sent Monday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Wyden criticized DHS and the Department of Justice for expanding the program in the final days of the first Trump administration, requiring DHS to build out a DNA collection program. As part of the program, the DNA is stored in a national criminal database.

Wyden explained that under the program, DHS agents – authorized by the Attorney General – collect the DNA samples and send them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for testing and add the samples to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

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CODIS was originally authorized by Congress in 1994 to retain forensic evidence and to identify convicted sex offenders and violent criminals. The database is permanently searchable by law enforcement across the United States.

From 2020 to 2024, the collection of immigrants' DNA has seen a 50-fold increase in the number of samples kept in the national database, as reported by the Los Angeles Times in May 2024.

Over those four years, more than 1.5 million noncitizen profiles were added to the database, the LA Times reported, citing a report from Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology.

“Governments exercising such broad discretion to involuntarily collect and retain DNA are repressive authoritarian regimes also engaging in gross human rights violations, such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, torture, and more,” Wyden wrote in his letter to Secretary Noem and Attorney General Bondi. “In fact, the U.S. Government has condemned the involuntary collection of DNA by the People’s Republic of China and has sanctioned entities engaged in this practice, yet this practice appears to be ongoing on our own soil.”

The senator said the DNA samples include those of more than 133,000 children as young as four years old.

Wyden additionally raised concerns that DHS agents are not clearly notifying noncitizens that their DNA is being taken and that some agents threaten arrest or criminal charges if immigrants refuse to provide a sample.

Some legal experts are also warning that the mass collection of immigrant DNA may be a violation of constitutional due process rights, Wyden claimed, noting the Trump administration has allowed DHS agents to detain and collect samples from immigrants without judicial authorization.

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are not required by law to seek judicial authorization to detain noncitizens, and it seems noncitizens can be detained for the sole purpose of collecting their DNA. ICE and CBP officials have broad discretion for detention, and since the Trump administration intentionally expanded its detention efforts, DHS dramatically expanded the federal government’s collection of DNA by 5,000%. Whereas prior administrations sought to limit DNA collection from noncitizens, DHS added over 1.5 million DNA profiles of noncitizens to CODIS after 2020," Wyden wrote.

"Reporting suggests that the Trump administration has added another quarter million people’s DNA to CODIS within four months this year and that the vast majority of this DNA come from immigration encounters with Mexican, Venezuelan, Cuban, and Haitian citizens. The Trump administration appears to be broadly detaining individuals and collecting their DNA for permanent storage in CODIS. Reporting also suggests that 97% of noncitizens whose DNA was collected were detained under CBP’s civil authority, and not on any criminal charges,” Wyden continued.

In his letter, Wyden questioned the government's interest in collecting DNA samples from noncitizens during detention and immigration enforcement and is seeking answers about how the federal agencies use the DNA samples. Wyden's deadline for a response is August 1.

KOIN 6 News has reached out to the Department of Justice. This story will be updated if we receive a response.

In a statement to KOIN 6 News on Thursday, a DHS spokesperson said, “In order to secure our borders, CBP is devoting every resource available to identify who is entering our country. We are not letting terrorists, human smugglers, child sex traffickers, and other criminals enter American communities. Toward this end, CBP collects DNA samples for submission to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) from persons in CBP custody who are arrested on federal criminal charges, and from aliens detained under CBP’s authority who are subject to fingerprinting and not otherwise exempt from the collection requirement.”