NPR investigation revealed ICE collected DNA samples from protesters arrested at immigration enforcement operations without related charges

On March 18, 2026, NPR published an investigation documenting six people arrested by federal immigration officers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Oregon while observing or protesting ICE operations who were then subjected to DNA cheek swabs despite facing no charges tied to their protest activity. In the lead case, ICE officers in Minneapolis tackled a protest observer identified by NPR only as Ben in late January 2026, held him roughly three hours, then ran a cheek swab before releasing him; Ben was later found to have suffered three broken ribs. NPR reviewed video of the arrest and Ben's medical records, and identified five additional people in Illinois, Oregon, and Minnesota who described similar treatment in sworn statements filed as part of lawsuits over the administration's immigration enforcement.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told NPR that federal law requires law enforcement to collect DNA from people who are arrested or facing charges. Legal scholars disputed that this authority extends to people held on civil immigration grounds while exercising First Amendment rights. NYU law professor Erin Murphy said six documented cases were enough to indicate a pattern, and Stanford law professor Orin Kerr said the central question was whether the underlying arrests were themselves lawful, since a wrongful arrest would mean DNA was collected and entered into a database without legal basis. It remains unclear where the collected samples are stored or how they may be used; DHS did not answer NPR's questions on that point and has denied maintaining a database of protesters.

This entry is distinct from the earlier-documented DHS/ICE "domestic terrorist" database and travel-credential revocations (recorded January 23, 2026) and a subsequently disclosed Spokane HSI biometric database — this entry records the physical collection of DNA samples from people arrested during protest observation across three states, evidenced through sworn litigation statements rather than a single field-office database.

Updates

2026-05-07 — Four Broadview, Illinois ICE protesters sued over DNA collection [2]

Four people arrested at protests outside the Broadview, Illinois ICE facility — two of whom were never charged with a crime — filed a federal lawsuit alleging that cheek swabs taken after their arrests and DNA profiles entered into the FBI's CODIS database violated their Fourth Amendment rights. The suit alleged federal agents had collected DNA from at least 92 people arrested during immigration-enforcement protests who were not charged with immigration offenses, and that DHS, ICE, and CBP did not respond to requests for comment.