RismadarVoice Reporters, August 30, 2026
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has awarded a $10.1 million contract to expand its rapid DNA testing programme, which officials say is designed to verify claimed family relationships during immigration enforcement operations.
Federal spending records reviewed by Newsweek showed that the one-year contract was awarded to Virginia-based SNA International LLC and will run until August 9, 2027.
The contract supports ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices, which are responsible for immigration arrests, detention and deportation activities.
According to government documents, the programme provides rapid DNA testing equipment and related services to establish biological relationships between individuals involved in immigration cases.
The latest contract follows an earlier $6.24 million agreement awarded to SNA International in 2025 for similar services. Combined, the two contracts represent more than $16 million in federal funding committed to the rapid DNA testing programme since 2025.
Reports indicate that the programme is separate from the wider DNA collection initiative that places genetic profiles of some immigration detainees into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
The expansion of the programme comes as the Trump administration continues to increase immigration enforcement measures. Officials have said rapid DNA testing is intended to prevent fraudulent family claims, particularly in cases involving adults claiming to be relatives or guardians of minors.
Former ICE official Scott Mechkowski said the technology has been used for years to verify family relationships and was not created as a new immigration enforcement tool.
“This is about confirming identities of people who claim to be guardians of minors,” Mechkowski said.
SNA International Chief Executive Steve Niezgoda said the company does not comment on specific government programmes or operations.
The contract history has also attracted legal scrutiny. In 2025, competing forensic services company Bode Technology challenged ICE’s decision to award the earlier contract to SNA International, arguing that the agency improperly used a sole-source process.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) later rejected the protest, ruling that ICE had reasonably determined the programme was connected to previous research and development work carried out by SNA International under federal contracts.
According to GAO records, SNA International previously developed DNA technology, including a rapid field-testing system known as DNAConnect, through Department of Homeland Security-funded research projects beginning in 2019.
However, privacy advocates and legal experts have raised concerns about the collection and storage of genetic information from immigration detainees.
Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy at Georgetown Law’s CeCentren Privacy and Technology, said many people undergoing DNA testing may not fully understand why their genetic information is collected or how it could be used.
She noted that DNA information differs from other biometric data because it can reveal information about an individual’s relatives across multiple generations.
A report from Georgetown Law’s CeCentren Privacy and Technology estimated that ICE collected DNA samples from hundreds of thousands of people in 2025, with some records entered into CODIS.
Legal experts have also questioned whether existing laws governing DNA collection apply in immigration cases. Ric Simmons, a law professor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, said previous Supreme Court rulings on DNA collection involved criminal arrests rather than civil immigration violations.
Other legal experts have argued that the use of DNA testing in immigration enforcement raises unresolved constitutional and privacy questions.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have defended the programme, stating that officials are required to verify identities and ensure that individuals claiming family relationships are accurately identified.
The agencies have not publicly provided detailed information on policies governing consent, storage periods, retention and destruction of DNA samples collected through the programme.
The expansion of the rapid DNA testing initiative continues to generate debate over the balance between immigration enforcement, identity verification and protection of personal genetic information.
