23andMe Is Giving Away DNA Kits In An Effort To Reunite Migrant Families
In the face of a national outrage, President Donald Trump has defended his administration’s morally questionable border patrol policies. This law has forced migrant children to be separated from their parents and detained in holding facilities. Despite Trump’s Wednesday reversal of the policy, it remains unclear how U.S. immigration officials plan to reunite family members; moving forward, families will now be detained together.
More on Trump’s ending the separation policy can be found here on the Inquisitr. Ancestry and genetic testing firm 23andMe has stepped up to the task of getting children back to their mothers and fathers, presenting a plausible solution, reports Mercury News. For anyone unfamiliar with that name, the company is a biotechnology and personal genomics facility that is privately based in Mountain View, California.
These scientists use saliva DNA testing to gain results. Some may recognize the title from television commercials advertising genetic health tests and genetic DNA testing for ancestry. They hope to use their abilities in bringing displaced families back together amid the chaos that has occurred due to the housing facilities for migrants. DNA kits will be donated to parents and children once a plan of implementation is put forth.
Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) contacted 23andMe first. Speirer has since spoken with company CEO Anne Wojcicki, who agreed to the idea.
“We’ve heard from many of our customers that they would like to see 23andMe help reunite family members that were tragically separated from each other. Connecting and uniting families is core to the mission of 23andMe. We would welcome any opportunity to help.”
All that’s missing now is a plan of action. As to when and how these kits will be dispensed, no further details are readily available. Speier has stated that part of figuring the next steps will be reaching out to federal officials for directions. Even with the help of DNA testing, reuniting these families will likely prove difficult.
The “zero tolerance” policy put forth by the Trump Administration has dispersed migrant children in numerous directions, spread and scattered about all across America. Meanwhile, parents and adults are being kept inside detention facilities in numerous other areas under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. One could easily describe this situation as a crisis, and Washington Post certainly has not shied away from that word in their frequently updated report of the issue.
The potential emotional damage inflicted upon these children is something that Speier has recognized when she spoke out to reporters on the attempts to use 23andMe DNA kits.
“It doesn’t change the fact that these children have been subject to clinical child abuse or that they’ve been scarred for life. But I feel a little more confident that we’re going to reunite parents and children.”
A little more confident is certainly milestones away from full confidence. Even so, any effort in amending such an atrocity does spark hope for many. Within the Mercury News report, it is cited that the ACLU and other social justice organizations support the use of DNA testing to bring families back together. Others still are unconvinced, and worse, some are complaining about the efforts. These negative remarks exclaim disapproval due to presumed risk of placing DNA in the hands of strangers.
