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BY TARA GRIMES
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An advance in DNA technology has reached a whole new height. The Department of Homeland Security has developed a DNA scanner that can determine someone’s DNA with a swab of saliva in just one hour. The Department of Homeland Security tells nextgov.com the scanner will initially be used to test relations between refugees and asylum seekers. In the future it could be used to identify criminals, illegal immigrants, missing persons and mass casualty victims.
Notice that not once did the DHS mention the technology would be used in airports, but try telling that to the frantic media outlets who heard it would be.
KMOV REPORTER: “Recently a TSA agent working undercover was able to pass through a scanner and he had a gun on him.”
KMOV ANCHOR RUSSELL KINSAUL: “Well, maybe that’s why the Department of Homeland Security is looking into a different type of scanner; a scanner of your DNA. U.S. security officials haven’t unveiled the scanner yet, but reportedly it’s about the size of a desktop printer. A TSA agent would then swab your mouth, put the sample in the machine and then wait a couple of minutes for results. The goal would be to combat illegal immigration.”
The Daily started the mass panic with an article implying the portable scanner would be used at airports this summer. It’s not clear where the reporter heard this from, but TSA says no way!
On its blog, TSA explains, “...this is a simply a preliminary test of how the technology performs. … TSA is not testing and has no plans to use any technology capable of testing DNA.”
But it was too late to stop the media storm. Other media outlets got wind of The Daily’s article and went on the offensive. Fox’s Judge Andrew Napolitano says while a simple swab of the mouth seems inoffensive, it reveals the most intimate information about your genetic makeup.
He also doesn’t agree with using it to find illegal immigrants or human traffickers. Fox and Friends’ Gretchen Carlson also weighed in.
ANDREW NAPOLITANO: “That has nothing to do with safety on an airplane.”
GRETCHEN CARLSON: “Wait a minute, that’s a little bit ingenious. They’re not even protecting the borders!”
ANDREW NAPOLITANO: “Correct! This doesn’t keep anybody safe! This just feeds the government's veracious appetite to control people, to invade their privacy and to learn more about them.”
DNA collection isn’t new. Many point out how the Pentagon released an article in 2008 reporting it has a DNA database with 80,000 suspected foreign terrorists on it. Even those who have heard the TSA claim it isn’t testing DNA scanning are skeptical -- including Natural News’ Mike Adams.
“Of course, they will assure the public that they aren’t storing the DNA information … and the naked body scanners don’t store images, either. Oh yeah, and the TSA’s security procedures make air travel safer, too, if you can believe that.”
DHS, however, assures nextgov.com the intention of these scanners are for other purposes. They will cut down the cost of one DNA test from $500 to $100, and a trained technician at a special operating site won’t be needed. The scanner will also speed up the process of testing, especially when testing refugees and children.
“When a refugee is allowed to come to the United States, parents, children and some siblings also could be eligible to enter. Citizen and Immigration Services wants to make sure those who claim to be relatives actually are... Similarly, the agency wants to make sure children are who their guardians claim them to be.”
According to Nextgov.com, the machine will be unveiled by DHS this summer. The DHS tells the site, to protect privacy the scanner will not sample DNA that could identify genetic problems.
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