U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is spending another $10 million on rapid DNA testing technology for agents in the field, adding a new layer to an already massive expansion of DNA collection from people caught up in the immigration system.
The new spending comes as research cited by WIRED estimates ICE may have added roughly 920,000 DNA profiles to the FBI's national criminal DNA system in 2025 alone, including genetic information collected from people who have never been convicted of a crime. The collection has also extended to families and children in immigration detention.
According to federal contracting information highlighted Tuesday by journalist Benjamin S. Weiss, the latest ICE task order is worth approximately $10.1 million and provides "rapid DNA tests, equipment, and services" for Enforcement and Removal Operations field offices. The stated purpose is to verify biological relationships.
That testing program is distinct from the broader DNA collection operation that sends genetic profiles from immigration detainees into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But the new contract is drawing attention because it comes amid growing scrutiny over the government's rapidly expanding use of genetic information in immigration enforcement.
According to WIRED, new research from Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology estimates ICE could have been responsible for as many as 919,908 new profiles added to CODIS during 2025.
The figure is an estimate because the FBI does not publicly identify which federal agency submitted each individual profile. Researchers arrived at the number by examining the enormous increase in CODIS' "detainee" index and comparing it with available Customs and Border Protection records.
The detainee index reached 3,345,692 profiles by December 2025, according to FBI records analyzed by Georgetown researchers and reported by WIRED. It grew by approximately 995,000 profiles during the year, equivalent to more than 2,700 new profiles every day. CBP records showed that agency submitted approximately 75,215 profiles during the same period, leaving ICE as the likely source of much of the remaining increase.
The scale represents a dramatic departure from ICE's earlier DNA collection practices. Internal agency training materials obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests showed ICE collected 3,609 samples in fiscal 2020 and another 16,392 through mid-May 2021.
The legal foundation for the program stretches back decades. The DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 authorized federal authorities to collect DNA from people arrested, charged or convicted of federal crimes, as well as non-U.S. citizens detained under federal authority. A Justice Department regulatory change that took effect in 2020 sharply limited DHS's ability to exempt immigration detainees from DNA collection.
Once processed, the resulting DNA profiles can enter CODIS, the FBI system that allows participating federal, state and local law enforcement laboratories to compare genetic profiles. The FBI says CODIS contains several categories, including profiles belonging to convicted offenders, arrestees and detainees, as well as DNA recovered from crime scenes.
That distinction has become central to criticism of the program because immigration violations such as being present in the country without authorization are generally civil matters, yet DNA collected from immigration detainees can become searchable by law enforcement investigating unrelated crimes.
The controversy has become particularly acute over children.
Earlier reporting by WIRED found that the federal government had collected DNA from more than 133,000 migrant children and teenagers between 2020 and 2024, including at least one child who was 4 years old, and submitted their profiles to the FBI system.
"None of the families at Dilley have been convicted of a crime," Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas, Greg Stanton of Arizona and Nanette Barragán of California said in a joint statement to WIRED about DNA collection at a Texas family detention facility. "They do not belong in a database meant for violent criminals, especially children."
DHS has defended DNA collection as a border security and identification measure. In response to WIRED, the department said CBP collects samples from people arrested on federal charges and detained noncitizens who are subject to fingerprinting and are not otherwise exempt.
The FBI, meanwhile, says CODIS does not store names or other personal identifiers alongside searchable DNA profiles and that access to the system is restricted to authorized criminal justice agencies. Federal law also imposes confidentiality requirements on DNA information.
