US using DNA testing in effort to reuniting immigrant kids with parents

The US government, under court order to quickly reunify parents and children who were separated after crossing illegally into the United States from Mexico, has expanded its use of DNA tests to establish paternity in immigration matters. Under President Barack Obama, DNA testing of unauthorized border-crossers was rare, former administration officials said, but one said it was sometimes used as a last resort to verify family connections when placing unaccompanied minors with sponsors in the United States. In a declaration filed with the US District Court in San Diego on Thursday, US Health and Human Services official Jonathan White described the testing as a “faster but costlier method for confirming parentage than collecting and assessing documentation and anecdotal information.” The filing was made in a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against Immigration and Customs Enforcement on behalf of parents who were separated from their children by immigration officials. LabCorp, one of the largest providers of DNA testing to prove parentage, said it is not involved in the current testing of immigrant parents and children. After the company conducts a DNA test at its laboratory, a written report is generally issued to whoever purchased the test and the collected DNA is destroyed after six months, he said “DNA testing is the method of parental verification most likely to protect children from harm given the compressed time frame imposed by the court’s order,” White said in his declaration.