WASHINGTON, DC (LOOTPRESS) — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, joined several Senate Republican colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in response to recent reports indicating that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will stop using “all familial DNA testing” at the U.S. southern border this month. This decision will significantly increase the risk for children to be exploited and trafficked through fraud schemes along the U.S. southern border.
The letter – led by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) – demands that CBP continue to conduct familial DNA testing at the U.S. southern border. In addition to Senators Capito and Rubio, the following senators also joined the letter: Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).
“The decision to halt DNA testing at the southern border would be a clear mistake, and just the latest example of the misguided policy decisions the Biden administration has made regarding the southern border. Through my role on the Senate Appropriations Committee, I strongly advocated for and funded efforts to improve our DNA testing capabilities at the southern border. That is because proper testing is crucial to not only the safety of Americans, but also children who were potentially being exploited. The fact that DHS is considering halting these tests is another misstep among a series of blunders made by the Biden administration when it comes to border security,” Senator Capito said.