WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib released the following statement regarding news that Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) will start collecting DNA from immigrants and migrants at the border in Detroit:

“This administration moves our society toward one of injustice and suffering day after day. This alarming effort to collect DNA from immigrants and migrants, including children, flies in the face of the values we strive to uphold in this country. It is disgusting and inhumane to strip dignity and privacy from those coming to this country seeking a better life. Instead of being a welcoming country, we are criminalizing those in need from the very start, with the clear intent of discouraging people from seeking refuge in America.

“Every member of Congress and this administration should go through this dehumanizing process and see and feel for themselves how wrong this is. Those coming to this country should be met with compassion and a just immigration system. Instead, they are met with policies that separate children from their parents and criminalize people for seeking a better, safer future. This policy should be halted immediately and prohibited permanently.”

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