WATCH | Canadian man says border officers made him give a DNA sample:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774656610_613_default.jpg\")
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U.S. lawmakers demand answers after Canadian man says border officers made him give DNA sample<\/p>\n
American lawmakers are demanding answers from the Trump administration after a Canadian man says U.S. customs officers held him for three hours at the border and forced him to provide a DNA sample before sending him home. <\/p>\n
The push for answers comes as some Canadians limit or completely avoid travel to the U.S., with many citing fears about how border authorities might treat them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dingell says she became aware of the story last weekend from a Substack journalist<\/a> who connected her with the Canadian man, a 68-year-old retired nuclear power plant employee who lives just north of Kincardine, Ont.\u00a0<\/p>\n Retiree wanted to attend ‘No Kings’ rally<\/p>\n Kevin Larson says he\u2019s crossed the border many times over the years without issue, often to visit family, or sometimes for training as part of his work as a health physicist.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the morning of Oct. 18, 2025, he tried to enter the U.S. at the Blue Water Bridge near Sarnia, Ont. He says he wanted to join Americans at the \u201cNo Kings\u201d rally across the river in Port Huron, Mich., for \u201creasons of interest to Canada, but also to let them know that we care about them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have been very concerned with the Trump administration calling us the 51st state,\u201d Larson said Wednesday. \u201cWe have been allies for generations and friends, and he’s just throwing it out the window.\u201d<\/p>\n Larson said he felt there was a good chance he\u2019d be turned away at the border, \u201cbut I didn’t expect the treatment that I got,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He says he doesn\u2019t have a criminal record, and brought a Canadian flag for the event, printed copies of directions to the rally, and a change of clothes on the off chance he \u201chad a flat tire and had to stay overnight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘If you don’t give us a DNA sample, we can charge you’<\/p>\n Larson says once he told U.S. Customs and Border Protection why he wanted to enter the country, he was sent for a secondary inspection. In the office, he had to sign a form stating that he wouldn\u2019t provide \u201cmaterial support or resources\u201d to foreign terrorist organizations \u2014 particularly, drug cartels \u2014 per a copy<\/a> he provided to CBC Windsor.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI signed that. No big deal. I’m not a criminal,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n He says border officers questioned him, searched his phone and car, took his fingerprints and photo, and eventually denied him entry.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Larson says the customs officers then told him he had to provide a DNA sample via cheek swab before he could head home.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI said, ‘No, I consider that a privacy thing. I’m not going to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cThen they explained, ‘Sir, if you don’t give us a DNA sample, we can charge you, and it would be an offence if you’re found guilty,’ something like that. And I said, ‘No, I’m not going to give you the DNA sample.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Larson says a supervisor then took him to a private room. \u201cHe actually read the regulation that he was citing to ask me for DNA. ‘It’s a charge if you’re found guilty, sir. It is a maximum jail sentence of one year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Larson says he was \u201crattled\u201d and ultimately complied, in part to avoid a longer-term ban that would prevent him from visiting a cousin in Georgia in the future. He was then allowed to drive back across the bridge to Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n CBP did not respond to an interview request, but a 2025 directive<\/a> says the border agency \u201ccollects DNA samples and accompanying biographical data for submission to [the DOJ\/FBI Combined DNA Index System] from all persons arrested on federal criminal charges and from aliens in CBP custody who are subject to fingerprinting.\u201d It also says CBP \u201cmay refer persons who fail to cooperate in the collection of a DNA sample for prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the guidance says DNA collection does not apply to \u201c[a]liens lawfully in or being processed for lawful admission into the United States\u201d or those held at a point of entry \u201cduring consideration of admissibility, and not subject to further detention or proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n In records Larson shared, customs officials wrote he provided \u201c[i]nsufficient evidence\u201d for his \u201cintended purpose of entry to the U.S.\u201d as the reason they denied his admission.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Larson disputes that reasoning. \u201cAt no time did they question the intent of my visit,” he said. “They never challenged that whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n An FBI form he provided lists<\/a> two purported infractions in a \u201ccharge\/citation\u201d section: \u201cImmigrant w\/out Docs\u201d and \u201cAlien inadmissibility under Section 212 (a),\u201d which appears to apply<\/a> to those who have previously had an \u201cunlawful presence\u201d in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n Larson says he had his Canadian passport, so he doesn\u2019t understand the first infraction.<\/p>\n \u201cI consider both those statements to be false,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m upset with the language in these documents because they do not reflect the reality and the understanding we all had of what was going on there.\u201d<\/p>\n Larson says the border officers he dealt with were professional, but he believes they made a mistake in taking his DNA and wants it removed from the FBI database.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m not even looking for an apology,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the border folks were just doing their job, and I hope we can get past it.\u201d<\/p>\n In response to questions about the removal process, FBI said its “Lab Division has processes and standard operating procedures in place that correspond to Federal Laws,” and declined to comment further. <\/p>\n U.S. lawmaker pledges to ‘get answers’<\/p>\n Dingell, who grew up near Port Huron along the St. Clair River, says that as she learned more about Larson\u2019s experience, \u201cit made absolute no sense\u201d to her.\u00a0<\/p>\n In her letter with Raskin \u2014 a constitutional lawyer \u2014 the pair ask for the administration\u2019s legal justification for taking Larson\u2019s DNA, if this has happened to others, as well as how the DNA is being stored and the process for removing it, among other things.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[Raskin] could not imagine what happened or why that was allowed, which is why he joined me in sending the letter,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was no evidence of any pending warrants, of any criminal history. There was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Dingell says they haven\u2019t received answers yet, but they will keep pushing until they do. \u201cWe’re both known for being tenacious, and we’re going to get answers,\u201d she said. \u201cIf we have to introduce legislation, have hearings, we’ll do exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n Dingell said she wants Canadians to know that people in Michigan understand the \u201cprecious relationship\u201d between the two countries and want to maintain it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love you,\u201d she said. \u201cHow can you live so close and not be family, friends, and community?\u201d<\/p>\n Larson, for his part, is helping to organize a \u201cNo Tyrants\u201d rally in Owen Sound this Saturday. He also won\u2019t be making any more trips to the U.S. for the time being, he says. He\u2019s gone once since last October \u2014 entering at a Windsor-Detroit crossing \u2014 and says CBP held him for an hour before letting him into the country.<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife and I had numerous chats, and we’ve decided we’re not going to the States until the administration changes or something changes,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s just getting too scary. We’ve told our cousin she has to come see us.\u201d<\/p>\n Larson remains optimistic about the future of the Canada-U.S. relationship. \u201cWe are so close to our friends in the States,\u201d he said. \u201cSo many of us hope we can get back to that and get through this difficult time right now. A lot of people say it’s permanent harm that\u2019s been done, but I’m hopeful we can see past it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American lawmakers are demanding answers from the Trump administration after a Canadian man says U.S. customs officers held…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-565434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Canadian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774656611_785_default.jpg\")
A truck crosses the Blue Water Bridge into Port Huron, Mich., from Sarnia, Ont., on Mar. 18, 2020. (Paul Sancya\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774656611_522_default.jpg\")
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle is shown near Warroad, Minn., on Nov. 4, 2025. (Tyson Koschik\/CBC)<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774656612_810_default.jpg\")
U.S. Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin, left, and Debbie Dingell, right. (Allison Robbert\/Carlos Osorio\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n