Friday, November 13, 12:00pm - 1:00pm (EST)
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ELSI Friday Forum | November 13th, 2026 | 12PM ET/ 9AM PT via Zoom | Genetic surveillance and the criminalization of immigration: Implications for policing the general population
DNA testing has long been used by US immigration agencies to verify family relationships, and as we discussed in the July, 2026 ELSI Friday Forum, genetic tests are also being used to reunify families in humanitarian crises. In the last few years, however, the collection, testing and uses of DNA in the immigration context has been expanded exponentially in the US, and has been estimated to include DNA from approximately 2,000 US citizens.. This genetic information is now deposited in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database, which was originally established to solve violent crimes. The Privacy Center at the Georgetown Law School determined that, as of December, 2025, the number of these samples indexed in CODIS exceeded 3.3 million. This ELSI Friday Forum will lay out the current state of DNA testing of immigrant communities in the US, and the ethical, legal, and social implications of the government’s expanded genetic surveillance capabilities for immigrants and citizens alike.
Moderator: Christi Guerrini, JD, MPH
Presenter: Stevie Glaberson, JD, LLM; Medha Makhlouf, JD
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https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89098444304?pwd=bFYBPeXi0eCMgOQXCnkNc7kBHkgrWG.1
Columbia Division of Ethics, MHE_ethics@cumc.columbia.edu