On March 13, 2025, Hugo Moreno-Mendez arrived for what he thought would be a routine check-in with the McLennan County Probation Department but found himself facing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers ready to arrest him. This was just one instance in a sweeping expansion of DNA collection from those held under civil immigration violations.

The Department of Homeland Security, particularly ICE, has become the largest source of new genetic profiles in the nation's criminal DNA system, with estimates suggesting that ICE alone added around 920,000 profiles in 2025. The vast majority of those held by ICE have no criminal conviction; residing undocumented is typically a civil offence, not a crime.

The expansion has reached families held in immigration detention and sparked lawsuits over the collection of DNA from protesters and others who argue they should never have been subjected to this program. Even children were swabbed at family detention centers, drawing sharp criticism: “None of the families at Dilley have been convicted of a crime. They do not belong in a database meant for violent criminals, especially children.”

The change tracks a broader shift as ICE now accounts for roughly 85 percent of immigration detentions, up from CBP’s dominant role a few years ago.