GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: New NetBio portable DNA screener to debut this summer

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: NextGov

01March2011 9:15pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The Homeland Security Department this summer plans to begin testing a DNA analyzer that's small enough to be easily portable and fast enough to return results in less than an hour.

The analyzer, about the size of a laser printer, initially will be used to determine kinship among refugees and asylum seekers. It also could help establish whether foreigners giving children up for adoption are their parents or other relatives, and help combat child smuggling and human trafficking, said Christopher Miles, biometrics program manager in the DHS Office of Science and Technology.

Only DNA can positively determine family relationships, Miles said Wednesday during a conference on biometrics and national security.

Eventually, the analyzer also could be used to positively identify criminals, illegal immigrants, missing persons and mass casualty victims, he said.

The machine, known as a rapid DNA screener, is expected to cut days or weeks and hundreds of dollars off the per-use cost of DNA analysis.

Using a process called digital microfluidics, the analyzer processes a DNA sample and provides results in less than an hour for under $100 per sample, Miles said. By comparison, it takes days or weeks and about $500 per sample to get results when DNA is tested in a laboratory, he said. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Secure Communities Program Uses Biometrics to Target Illegal Immigrants

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Emergency Management

01March2011 8:53pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  As of last week, any person arrested and fingerprinted in California will now undergo an automatic immigration check.

California became the ninth state in which each county has activated Secure Communities, a fingerprint data-sharing program between local law enforcement offices and federal immigration enforcement agencies. Other states with complete activation include Texas, West Virginia, Florida, Arizona, Delaware, Virginia, Wisconsin and New Mexico.

Secure Communities is a program between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Justice that automatically sends name and fingerprint information submitted through a federal file-sharing system, where it’s checked against both the FBI criminal history records and biometrics-based immigration records in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Automated Biometric Identification System.

If fingerprints match DHS records, ICE determines if immigration enforcement action is required, considering the immigration status of the alien, the severity of the crime and the person's criminal history. Priority is placed on aliens convicted of serious crimes, such as major drug offenses, murder, rape and kidnapping.

ICE estimates that 1 million individuals arrested by law enforcement each year are not U.S. citizens. Across the country, 1,033 jurisdictions in 38 states have activated the ICE system, which has resulted in the arrest of more than 59,000 convicted criminal illegal immigrants. By 2013, ICE plans to be fully rolled out nationwide.

“What we’re seeing here is ICE receiving leads and taking the appropriate enforcement action in almost real time as that information is coming in,” said Marc Rapp, acting assistant director for Secure Communities. “There is no instance where some individuals are having their identities queried and others are not. It happens across the board, thereby eliminating the potential for racial profiling.” (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.