The Ocean Between

By Conrad Wilson

October 16, 2008

For years DNA testing has played an increasing role in the United State's immigration process. But a decision by the State Department last spring to incorporate the testing into a family reunification program, has virtually halted the arrival of thousands from several African countries. These refugees come from war torn homes to reunite with family members already in the United States. Refugees do so through a visa program aimed at bringing families together.

The State Department's DNA test is a method to insure that family members who claim to be related share the same DNA. It started as a pilot program in Kenya and confirmed what some State Department officials suspected for years: many individuals who claimed to be related did not share the same DNA. Even worse were reports that the visas were being sold on the black market for upwards of $10,000.

The widespread fraud led the State Department to suspend the resettlement program in Kenya and Ethopia in March, and expanded the suspension to Ugnda, Ghana, Guinea, Gamiba and the Ivory Cost in May.

While the effects of the decision have been felt throughout many of the nation's African immigrant communities, nowhere has that been more pronounced than in the Twin Cities, home the United State's greatest concentration of Somali and other East African refugees. Since March, the local branch of Catholic Charities (the resettlement organization that works with refugees in the Twin Cities) has only processed one individual.

This NPR style, investigative/explanatory piece includes interviews with both refugee and government sources.

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