71‑year‑old Air Force veteran Dana Briggs traveled to Chicago in September to protest the Broadview ICE detention center. Federal agents knocked him to the ground, handcuffed him in a hospital bed and later transferred him to a federal lockup. After reading his rights, officers forced him to provide a cheek swab, warning that refusal would constitute another crime.

Briggs now leads a suit in the Northern District of Illinois naming three additional protesters, two never charged. The complaint argues the DNA grab violates First Amendment protest rights and constitutes an unreasonable, warrantless bodily intrusion. Government databases already hold 27 million profiles, with roughly 150,000 added each month, and none of Briggs’ samples have been expunged despite the charges being dropped.

The plaintiffs cite a 2013 Supreme Court decision limiting DNA collection to serious‑crime suspects, demanding the Department of Homeland Security comply. Attorneys Carey R. Dunne and Mark F. Pomerantz of the nonprofit Free + Fair litigation group say the practice creates a surveillance database that reaches relatives who never protested. Neither DHS nor DOJ has responded, leaving the case poised to test federal biometric policy.