A new memo reveals that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) retaliated against a group of agency whistleblowers who revealed its failure to comply with a law requiring the collection of DNA from illegal immigrants.
Those whistleblowers – Fred Wynn, Mike Taylor and Mark Jones – told journalist Catherine Herridge: “The agency’s goal is to bankrupt them, force them to resign, die, commit suicide or basically, preferably, all of the above.”
An internal memo from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel obtained by Herridge concluded that “the agency retaliated against whistleblowers for actual or perceived disclosures of wrongdoing.”
“The deliberate failure, I think, is inexplicable,” one whistleblower told Herridge.
Whistleblowers Fred Wynn, Mike Taylor and Mark Jones told journalist Catherine Herridge: “The agency’s goal is to bankrupt them, force them to resign, die, commit suicide or basically, preferably, all of the above.”
The memo said the retaliation included “a significant change in their duties, responsibilities and working conditions” and that the agency did not offer them any rewards for their performance.
‘The actions were motivated by the agency’s dissatisfaction with the whistleblowers’ perceived and actual involvement in exposing the agency’s decade-long, willful failure to implement a law designed to protect public safety.’
The complainants said they had their guns taken away and lost all career prospects almost overnight after reporting the lack of DNA collection they saw.
The whistleblowers first spoke to the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who first wrote to DHS in 2018 after receiving the whistleblowers’ complaints, which were legally protected.
According to an internal Homeland Security directive obtained by Grassley, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “is required to collect DNA samples from non-U.S. persons apprehended for immigration violations.”
This policy complies with the DNA Fingerprinting Act 2005.
But Grassley found that about 70 percent of border encounters did not include the DNA collection required by law, and as many as 950,000 violent criminals went unidentified between 2010 and 2019.
The whistleblowers believe that number has since skyrocketed.
“Americans are dead and these deaths could have been prevented,” according to Homeland Security whistleblower Fred Wynn.
The San Diego sector of the Border Patrol has become the busiest in the country in recent weeks
Chinese immigrants are among the nationalities that have entered the United States in record numbers over the past year.
In April, the San Diego region surpassed Tucson, which had been the busiest in the country, and fell to second place with 31,219 border encounters. The El Paso sector, which includes the West Texas city and all of New Mexico, rose to third place with 30,393.
Wynn said he had no doubt that failure to enforce the policy “may have been a contributing factor” to the August 2023 sexual assault and murder of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland mother.
The suspect had been linked to a home invasion prior to her murder.
“If due diligence had been exercised and DNA had been collected in accordance with the law, we would have known who we were looking for.”
The complainants claimed that no one had been demoted or disciplined for failing to comply with the DNA law. “The only ones who have been disciplined are sitting here.”
“They took away my law enforcement credentials, they took away my firearm, they took away my law enforcement retirement, and we’ll tell you in a law enforcement setting, publicly, taking away someone’s firearm is the ultimate insult and degradation,” Taylor said.
“I was basically left sitting at my desk every day, doing nothing but the most menial tasks, my future career options, because I was working in a very limited field. All that future potential was wiped out in one day,” Wynn said.
“Like Mr. Taylor. My firearm was taken away, my credentials were taken away, and it was the final straw, a final blow to a professional career, and what we did was step up. In 75 years of joint service, none of us have received any written or verbal disciplinary action.”
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green said his committee had confirmed that DHS had not collected DNA data from migrants.
“Instead of empowering Border Patrol agents and other CBP officials, Biden, Harris, and DHS Secretary Mayorkas have made it harder for DHS law enforcement to do their jobs and have retaliated against those who oppose them. My Committee’s investigative efforts have also confirmed that CBP, under the Biden-Harris administration, simply does not care to collect this vital DNA data, and vulnerable Americans and migrants are the ones who end up suffering the consequences,” she told DailyMail.com.
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