A leaked memo from the Biden administration seems to foreshadow the demise of yet another effective border security measure implemented by the Trump administration.
The Biden administration intends to end the use of family DNA testing at the US-Mexico border, which experts say was essential in preventing the fraudulent admission of undocumented immigrants and combating child trafficking, according to a letter obtained by Just The News.
DNA testing was first implemented and used by Customs and Border Protection under the previous government of President Donald Trump. In response to a court ruling requiring the separation of undocumented children from their families and proof that drug cartels were using youngsters to create fictitious families and aid in the illegal crossing of border, it was implemented.
The testing will conclude when its vendor contract ends at the end of the month, according to a message delivered earlier this week to frontline border guards, Just the News reported.
“The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) familial DNA contract with BODE Technologies will end on May 31, 2023 and all familial DNA testing will conclude on that date,” the message stated, the outlet reported.
The document further notes that the FBI’s “booking” DNA collection is “separate” from the gathering and testing of family DNA. Additionally, it states that the CODIS program will continue “uninterrupted” despite BODE’s contract expiring because it “does not impact collections as part of the CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) program.”
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has discovered many instances of fraudulent attempts by unauthorized people to assert family ties over the years. According to a Government Accountability Office investigation from 2022, up to 1 in 10 youngsters who were tested turned out not to be biologically linked to the undocumented people they were traveling across the border with.
In order to prove applicants’ familial ties, DNA testing has been employed for years up to that point, but it wasn’t until 2019 that the Trump administration started to increase its use.
In order to boost testing capability from less than 100 tests per day to more than 2 million tests per day, the previous administration hired more than 400 test developers. The administration believed that false claims of familial ties were routinely exploited to enter the US, hence the goal was to step up efforts to weed them out.
Critics said that DNA testing violated human rights and invaded people’s privacy. There were issues with the exams’ accuracy as well as the possibility of mistakes. Additionally, they claimed that the strategy was pointless and unsuccessful at attaining its intended objectives.
The Trump administration persisted in requiring DNA testing of some people applying for immigration to the US notwithstanding the outcry. In order to lessen fraud and maintain the integrity of the US immigration system, the government said that the policy was required.
The Trump administration’s push to enact tight immigration regulations includes the use of DNA testing at the border. Additionally, the administration put into effect the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which obliged asylum claimants to stay in Mexico while their claims were handled in the US, and the “zero-tolerance” policy, which resulted in the separation of families at the border.
Following the disclosure of a “energy security” memo, the Republican chairmen of two significant House committees this week opened an inquiry into how the Biden administration handled its leasing policies for fossil fuels.
James Comer of Kentucky’s House Oversight Committee and Bruce Westerman of Arkansas’s House Natural Resources Committee wrote to senior Department of the Interior (DOI) official Laura Daniel-Davis to inform her of an investigation. The letter attacked the DOI’s delays in leasing out oil and gas and Daniel-Davis’ recent memo that put climate concerns before of energy security.
Chairman Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Chairman Pat Fallon, R-Texas, of the Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs also spearheaded the letter. The letter was signed by 17 more House Republicans in total.
“The Biden Administration has obstructed America’s energy producers in an effort to force a radical Green New Deal agenda on the American people,” Comer told Fox News in a statement. “The Democrats’ ongoing war against America’s oil and gas industry has only driven energy prices higher and families across the country are paying the price.”
“Instead of pushing the Administration’s climate agenda, the Department of the Interior should be prioritizing economic development and American energy security,” Comer noted further, according to the network’s report. “Congress must ensure DOI is fulfilling their responsibility to advance policies that unleash American energy production and strengthen an industry that provides good-paying job opportunities.”
In a document published in late November, former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton recommended that the Department of Interior charge energy corporations a royalty rate of 18.75%, the maximum permitted by law, for a significant sale of oil and gas leases in Alaska.
