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Fact Check: Can ICE officers take DNA samples from protesters in custody?

ICE and DHS have significantly ramped up interior immigration enforcement, including numerous raids, arrests, and detentions

BY CONRAD DIAS

PUBLISHED MAR 25, 2026

Several protesters claimed that ICE officers took DNA samples from them in custody (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: During President Donald Trump's second term, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies have significantly ramped up interior immigration enforcement, including numerous raids, arrests, and detentions across the United States.

The initiative aligns with campaign promises of the "largest domestic deportation operation" in US history, supported by increased funding, more agents, and policy shifts prioritizing rapid arrests and removals under Trump.

Amid this, reports suggested that ICE officers forced people under custody to give DNA samples, as multiple immigration enforcement protesters reported being swabbed after being taken into custody. But can the ICE really do that? Let us find out below.

Claim: ICE officers take DNA samples from protesters in custody

USA Today came up with a story claiming that multiple immigration enforcement protesters reported being swabbed after being taken into custody.

Steven Saari, a US Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he was "physically forced without my consent to do a DNA sample" after immigration agents detained him near where Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, was fatally shot by federal authorities in January.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MARCH 23: Officers look on as travelers stand in long lines at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on March 23, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.The travel disruptions continue as hundreds of TSA agents quit or work without pay during a partial government shutdown. U.S. President Donald Trump said ICE agents will be deployed to U.S. airports on Monday, with border czar Tom Homan in charge of the effort.(Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images) — Officers look on as travelers stand in long lines at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on March 23, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Saari said in court records that he went to the scene after hearing that someone was shot by federal agents in the city, less than three weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good. He added that he was taken into custody without cause.

He said in a declaration filed in federal court, "I was standing on the sidewalk, not recording with my phone, not protesting, not yelling, not blowing a whistle, just watching", adding that after about eight hours in custody, he was released without charges.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents guard outside Delaney Hall, a migrant detention facility, while anti-ICE activists demonstrate on June 12, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. Anti-ICE protests have been spreading to cities across America since Ice deportation quotas have increased. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents guard outside Delaney Hall, a migrant detention facility, while anti-ICE activists demonstrate on June 12, 2025, in Newark, New Jersey (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Similarly, several people have said federal agents took or attempted to take DNA samples from them after they were apprehended.

Fact Check: ICE agents can collect DNA samples from people who are arrested

A spokesperson for DHS informed the outlet that federal law requires law enforcement to collect DNA samples from people who are arrested. The requirement applies to people who are 'arrested, facing charges, or convicted,' and non-US citizens who are 'detained'.

The 2005 DNA Fingerprint Act authorized federal officials to collect DNA from people arrested on suspicion of having committed a crime.

As per a report from the Center on Privacy and Technology published in May 2024, it is a significant expansion of power that "passed with little public scrutiny as an amendment to the reauthorization bill for the popular Violence Against Women Act."

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JANUARY 14: Federal agents guard a perimeter following a shooting incident as angry residents protest their presence in the city on January 14, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to reports, a federal agent shot a Venezuelan man who was resisting arrest. The Trump administration has sent a reported 2,000 federal plus federal agents into the area, with more on the way, as they make a push to arrest undocumented immigrants in the region. The Trump administration has sent a reported 2,000 federal plus federal agents into the area, with more on the way, as they make a push to arrest undocumented immigrants in the region. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) — Federal agents guard a perimeter following a shooting incident as angry residents protest their presence in the city on January 14, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Moreover, the researchers said federal law makes refusal to cooperate with DNA collection a crime, but some people have done so, as per federal records.

According to the federal regulation cited by DHS, agencies are authorized to use "such means as are reasonably necessary to detain, restrain, and collect a DNA sample" from someone who refuses to cooperate.

Moreover, the sample must then be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation so that it can be analyzed and entered into a national law enforcement database known as the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS.