Dear Friend of Press Freedom,

I’m Lauren Harper, the first Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy at Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), and welcome to The Classifieds. Read on to learn about the week’s top secrecy news.

DHS’ DNA dragnet surges as oversight stalls

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is harvesting DNA from nearly a million people a year — including five-year-olds and U.S. citizens — according to Freedom of Information Act records obtained by Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology. Operating a biometric collection project that large requires significant resources and logistical precision. Yet the same agency that was able to expand its DNA collection by 10,000% in five years has not figured out a way to clip $300 body cameras onto all of its agents’ uniforms.

The records make clear that ICE’s institutional resistance to basic oversight isn’t a matter of capacity or budget. At the end of the day, the agency simply prioritizes widening its surveillance dragnet over transparency.

ICE’s DNA collection efforts have exploded since 2020, when a new directive mandated sampling for almost everyone in custody, reversing an earlier policy that allowed DHS to exclude taking samples if it would be a resource burden.

The numbers tell the whole story:

  • In 2020, ICE collected 3,609 samples.
  • In 2021, it collected 16,392.
  • By 2025, that annual figure reached roughly 995,000. This means agents are collecting the genetic material of more than 2,700 people every single day.

Most of the people ICE is collecting samples from have no criminal record. Some are minors as young as five, while others are U.S. citizens who were detained while protesting ICE detention centers.

Once collected, these samples are entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, which law enforcement agencies nationwide search to match DNA taken from crime scenes with samples in the system. The government stores the physical DNA samples indefinitely. That means, even if Congress or the courts eventually rein in the Department of Homeland Security, the government will retain physical custody of millions of citizens’ and noncitizens’ genetic data — possibly forever.

Prior to ICE’s acceleration, Customs and Border Protection handled the majority of DHS’ sampling, and they were taken at border crossings. Today, thanks to ICE’s expansion, DHS has become the single largest contributor of profiles to the national criminal DNA database.

This biometric collection is part of a broader surveillance expansion. DHS is also growing its facial recognition and iris scanner capacity with tools like Mobile Fortify, which allows immigration officers to capture and store biometric data for up to 15 years — without consent. On top of that, ICE spent over a quarter of a billion dollars in one year paying private contractors to scour social media sites for accounts that are critical of immigration enforcement, on the dubious claim that such criticism could endanger the agency’s mission.

Taxpayers, some of whose genetic material will inevitably end up in FBI vaults or government servers, and who may be harassed for lawfully criticizing the government, are effectively funding their own surveillance.

One of the most pressing questions we must ask is: Can we trust the government with these unchecked surveillance powers? A recent Washington Post investigation into how local officers routinely abuse automated license plate reader networks as a stalking tool provides a clear answer: absolutely not.

Have a FOIA story? Apply for FPF’s $25,000 Penlight Prize

Are you a journalist who published a public-records-based story without a paywall on or after Sept. 1, 2025? If so, consider applying for FPF’s inaugural $25,000 Penlight Prize! Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 1, 2026. Learn more at penlightprize.org.

What I’m reading

Inside the secretive boards deciding trans troops’ fate

The New York Times

The Pentagon’s kangaroo courts — officially known as “separation boards” — which decide whether trans service members can continue to serve, operate “with levels of security and silence usually reserved for state secrets. They take place behind closed doors on military bases. There are no cameras and no transcripts; the public is not allowed to attend. In some cases, service members’ spouses and even the service members themselves are kept out.”

Inspectors general are conducting fewer oversight reports after 18 months of upheaval

Government Executive

A new report by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service finds that inspectors general under President Donald Trump have produced 25% fewer investigative reports probing official misconduct compared to previous years. The reasons are obvious: the mass firing of inspectors general, and replacing independent professionals with political loyalists.

Transparently yours,

Lauren Harper
Daniel Ellsberg Chair on Government Secrecy
Freedom of the Press Foundation

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