mumbai the us department of homeland security dhs is proposing a regulation that will significantly expand its current biometrics collection policies to include palm prints iris images voice recognition and in certain circumstances dna such biometrics will also be collected from minors as there will be no age restrictionscurrently the biometric collection is restricted largely to fingerprints and photographs from immigration applications and is used for background checksforeign nations in the us such as h1b workers and their dependents spouses and children could be subject to regular biometric collections and background screenings at any time until they become us citizens in addition the proposed changes by dhs could require submission of biometric data from us citizens who are sponsoring relatives for immigrationthe proposed rule would authorize biometrics collection for identity verification in addition to new techniques voice iris and facial recognition technologies are fast accurate ways to confirm the identity of an applicant that dont require physical contact states dhs in a press release it expects that the new rule would improve the screening and vetting process and reduce dependence on paper documents and biographic information to prove identity and familial relationshipsdhs will also be authorized to collect dna or dna test results to verify a claimed genetic relationship when the applicant is unable to provide sufficient documentary evidence to establish the claimed relationship this proposed rule eliminates any ambiguity surrounding the departments use of biometrics setting clear standards for how and why we collect and use this information said the ken cuccinelli senior official leveraging readily available technology to verify the identity of an individual we are screening is responsible governing the collection of biometric information also guards against identity theft and thwarts fraudsters who are not who they claim to be he addedthe new regulation will be formally proposed on september 11 via publication in the federal register and will be open for public feedback for 30 days this will follow vetting of the comments received and it will take several months for the rule to become finalandrea flores deputy director of immigration policy at the american civil liberties union uclu in a statement said the trump administration is once again trying to radically change americas immigration system this time theyre contemplating a new requirement to collect unprecedented personal information from immigrants and the us citizens who sponsor them throughout the immigration process and to potentially store that information even after the immigrants become citizens collecting a massive database of genetic blueprints wont make us safer it will simply make it easier for the government to surveil and target our communities and to bring us closer to a dystopian nightmare trumps goal is clear to shut down the legal immigration system and make immigration as difficult as possible will congress let him she added