Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has awarded a substantial contract amounting to $10.1 million to expand its rapid DNA testing program. The program aims to verify familial relationships during immigration enforcement operations. This contract, granted to Virginia-based SNA International LLC, commenced on August 10, 2023, and is planned to extend until August 9, 2027.

This initiative supports ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) field offices. ERO is a division within ICE tasked with immigration arrests, handling detention operations, and executing removals. According to federal spending records, the contract involves rapid DNA tests, equipment provision, and associated services for these field offices.

“This task order provides rapid DNA tests, equipment, and services for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field offices to verify biological relatives,” as described by the government.

Civil liberties and immigrant advocacy groups have expressed worries about the program’s privacy implications and how it addresses non-biological family relationships. Stevie Glaberson, who heads research and advocacy at Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology, voiced concerns regarding the manner in which DNA is gathered and the understanding of its purpose among migrants.

Glaberson stated, “Many people report not understanding why their DNA was taken and for what purpose.” She noted that DNA holds distinct attributes among biometric identifiers as it can disclose information concerning family members through several generations.

Newsweek has contacted ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for comments via email. Meanwhile, Steve Niezgoda, CEO of SNA International, communicated that, as a policy, the company does not publicly discuss details pertaining to government programs or operations.

Scott Mechkowski, who retired as ICE’s deputy field office director for ERO in New York back in 2018, clarified that rapid DNA testing isn’t a new tool in immigration enforcement. He said, “This is not about Big Brother. This is about making sure people who claim to be guardians of minors…we know who they are.”

The recent contract follows a previous issuance valuing $6.24 million in 2025, aimed at the same intentions. When combined, both contracts reflect over $16 million in federal obligations linked to this DNA testing program, as indicated by USAspending.gov.

The genesis of the rapid DNA initiative can be traced to research by SNA earlier funded by DHS through the Small Business Innovation Research program. A decision in 2025 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) stated that ICE pursued aid for a “rapid DNA testing program.” The purpose was to pinpoint fraudulent claims of family relations made by individuals entering or attempting to enter the U.S.

GAO reported that ICE requisites encompassed DNA testing equipment, test kits, software, technical backing, and training. SNA initially received a DHS research contract in 2019 to engineer a DNA “reach-back” system. This system could back rapid DNA testing on-site. Following this, another contract was awarded in 2020 to further develop relevant technology, including software identified as DNAConnect and a supporting center for rapid DNA system users.

The groundworks laid by SNA culminated in ICE awarding a sole-source Phase III contract. Bode Technology, another forensic entity, contested this procurement, arguing ICE’s flawed award structuring. Although, GAO disregarded the protest. It determined that ICE reasonably considered the rapid DNA program to “derive from, extend, or complete” SNA’s previous federally financed research.

Contract records exhibit that the comprehensive rapid DNA contract encompasses a two-year order period. ICE is thus enabled to issue supplementary task orders. The description specifies the contract is designed to procure rapid DNA tests, equipment, and services for ERO field offices to authenticate biological lineage.

The accessible award records and GAO ruling do not elaborate policies regulating consent, sample collection methodologies, storage practices, retention durations, destruction, or any potential secondary application of the genetic data gathered through the ERO program. They also omit details regarding procedural alternatives available when a DNA test does not affirm a solicited biological relationship.