Ayanna Pressley Grills DHS Inspector General Over Immigrant DNA Collection

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During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) asked Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari about the DHS's collection of immigrant children's DNA, which the agency says is used to match them with their parents.

Transcript

00:00Thank you. First let me begin by saying this. Republicans, you sound absolutely absurd.

00:09Stop calling children aliens. This intentional, I mean the cruelty is the point, this intentional

00:15dehumanizing and persistent persecution through your rhetoric is shameful. You are literally

00:22attacking children. I cannot take seriously anyone who's using othering language to bully

00:29babies and toddlers. Republicans don't want us to see the humanity of immigrants, that's

00:35why they like saying aliens, and even put it in the title of the hearing. And that inhumane

00:40approach is consistent with the actions of the Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Khaffari,

00:46have you heard about the DHS policy of collecting the DNA of children and storing it into the

00:52FBI criminal database, yes or no? I believe there is not a policy to do

00:58children. There absolutely is. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record

01:04this report from July 2025 titled Raiding the Genome, how the United States government is

01:11abusing its immigration powers to amass DNA for future policing. Without objection. This policy

01:20began under Donald Trump. In his first term, he authorized DHS to begin mass DNA data collection

01:27from immigrants, including children, and hand that data over to an FBI database designed

01:35to track violent offenders. Now that he's back, Trump is taking this policy to new extremes, adding

01:42more than a quarter million people to the database in just four months. I'm right here. A quarter million

01:50people, okay, in four months. This committee recently held a hearing on genetic data, and there was

01:56bipartisan agreement that DNA is highly sensitive and its misuse is a violation of people's rights

02:03because children as young as four years old could not possibly consent to DNA collection.

02:11So I want to know what your office is doing about it, Dr. Khaffari.

02:15We actually wrote a report.

02:16Hold on a moment. Let me ask the question.

02:17Certainly.

02:18Is it the responsibility of your office to investigate abuses of civil rights and civil liberties,

02:24yes or no?

02:25Yes.

02:26Has your office ever investigated concerns about DHS agents stealing genetic information from children

02:33and uploading it to the FBI's criminal database?

02:38Not to my knowledge during my tenure.

02:40Well, for an Inspector General worthy of the title, it should be a priority investigation.

02:48Do you agree?

02:50I agree that we did a report that we-

02:53You agree?

02:54I agree that we did a report on the matter you're discussing.

02:59For the record, I want to be clear. Do you agree there should be a priority investigation

03:03by your office to look into agents stealing genetic information from children and uploading

03:10it to the FBI's criminal database? Yes or no?

03:15Yes or no?

03:16We have done the reports that you're mentioning.

03:18Let me just say this.

03:20Your office, according to Title V of the U.S. Code, Chapter 4, Section 417, this is the responsibility

03:27you're charged with to investigate abuses of civil rights and civil liberties. Children

03:31as young as four years old have not consented to the collection of their DNA. That is a violation

03:37of the civil rights and civil liberties. So this is not a trick question. Do you believe,

03:42given the charge and jurisdiction of your office, that this should be a priority investigation

03:46as their rights have been violated?

03:48Unless the adult consented on the child.

03:51Yes or no? Yes or no? Dr. Khafari?

03:53We just got done writing a report.

03:56On what?

03:57On the DNA collection within the Department of Homeland Security.

04:00I thought you said you weren't even aware that it was a policy. I'm very confused.

04:04There's not a policy.

04:06Dr. Khafari, I'm not going to, you know, play these games here because we're talking

04:10about children. So I don't want to circle the drain. But this should be a priority investigation

04:15because we have children whose civil rights have been violated with the collection of their

04:22DNA. This administration is turning childhood trauma into a permanent record. Republicans

04:27on this committee, you claim to be focused on protecting children, yet you're ignoring

04:31actual threats to their safety. You traumatize children with the threat of disappearing their

04:35parents. You traumatize children by disappearing their parents. You traumatize children by collecting

04:40their DNA without their consent and criminalizing them. You traumatize children by denying them food

04:46when they're hungry. You traumatize children by denying them essential health care, which

04:51is their human right. You traumatize them so much that they're afraid to show up to school,

04:56afraid to show up to church, afraid to go to doctor's appointments. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous

05:01consent to enter into the record this July 2025 article from the Boston Globe titled, I want

05:07Daddy, as ICE detains parents and children. Without objection, the gentlelady's time has expired.

05:13Ms. Mace is recognized for five minutes for questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate

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