ICE Seeks Deportation of 12-Year-Old Anchorage Boy After DNA Test Refusal

A 12-year-old boy living in Anchorage, Alaska is facing deportation proceedings in the United States after U.S. immigration authorities questioned whether he can prove his citizenship without a DNA test, his lawyer told Newsweek.

The case centers on a child born in Turkey to a Nigerian mother and a U.S. citizen father who was serving with the U.S. military at the time, according to the legal team described by Newsweek and the Times of India.

Clarin

Newsweek reported that the boy has been placed in removal proceedings along with his mother, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asking for a DNA test to prove his American citizenship.

The father, identified by Newsweek as 46-year-old Bolanle Meshach Akinleye, has refused to take the test, the legal team said, and attempts to reach him were unsuccessful late Thursday.

The boy’s lawyer, Margaret Stock of Cascadia Cross Border Law Group in Anchorage, Alaska, said, “The child can't establish he's a citizen, and right now, the government's trying to deport him.”

Stock also emphasized, “He's not in detention yet. They haven't come and grabbed him and put him in a detention center, but they've got him in deportation proceedings.”

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Newsweek that the boy and his mother were illegal immigrants and that, “They have provided no evidence that either of his parents are U.S. citizens. His application for a citizenship was denied. They have a scheduled court date and will receive full due process.”

The legal dispute over the boy’s citizenship is tied directly to the absence of a DNA test, which USCIS is seeking as proof of the father-son relationship, according to Newsweek and the Times of India.

Newsweek said Stock explained that USCIS “often” asks for DNA in military cases because officials are “skeptical that U.S. military parents are fathering children overseas.”

Courrier international

In Stock’s account, the boy was born in Turkey while his father, Bolanle Meshach Akinleye, was serving with the U.S. military, and the family later arrived in the U.S. on a visitor visa.

Stock told Newsweek that the father’s refusal is blocking the government’s effort to establish citizenship, and she said the evidence of the relationship includes “massive numbers of photos and videos of the two of them.”

She added that the father recorded a video wishing the boy a happy birthday on his birthday, and she argued that “the only” way the mother could have had the baby at the time was with that father.

The Times of India echoed the same core details, saying the boy was born in Turkey and that USCIS asked for genetic proof of paternity while the father refused.

Both outlets also reported that the government is continuing removal proceedings despite the legal team’s description of supporting evidence.

Newsweek further reported that a DHS spokesperson suggested the family could avoid detention by using a self-deportation option, stating, “Parents can take control of their departure with the CBP Home app and reserve the chance to come back the right legal way.”

The Times of India quoted the same DHS spokesperson language, including the offer that, “The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now.”

Beyond the Anchorage case, the sources describe a broader U.S. immigration identity-verification effort that would expand DNA testing in selected situations and broaden the biometric data collected in immigration proceedings.

Clarin reported that U.S. immigration authorities are evaluating “more advanced measures to verify identity,” including DNA tests in specific cases and a “significant expansion of the biometrics currently used.”

The Clarin account says the Department of Homeland Security is evaluating implementing a more stringent identity verification system, and that one measure discussed is DNA testing in cases where it is necessary to confirm family ties with “absolute certainty,” such as I-130 petitions, international adoptions, or suspected fraudulent applications.

Clarin also states that DNA tests would not be mandatory for everyone, but could become a recurring step when documentary evidence is uncertain, and it notes that DNA is already collected in limited ways.

It says a DHS spokesperson told The Hill in July of this year that U.S. Border Patrol (CBP) collects DNA samples from people arrested on federal criminal charges and from detained immigrants subject to fingerprinting and not exempt from the collection requirement.

El Cronista similarly describes a proposal under evaluation in which DNA tests would be used selectively, “mainly in cases where documentary doubts exist or it is indispensable to validate biological relationships.”

El Cronista also lists technologies that could be integrated into immigration procedures, including “advanced facial recognition; iris scanning; voice identification; movement pattern analysis.”

Both outlets frame the goal as reducing fraud and modernizing identity checks, while also raising concerns about privacy and ethical limits.

Clarin says civil society organizations warn that storing genetic and sensitive biometric data creates risks of misuse, discrimination, and excessive surveillance, and it adds that initial implementation could cause delays as systems and security protocols are adjusted.

The Anchorage case is also being framed by the boy’s lawyer as part of a larger legal fight over birthright citizenship, with the U.S. Supreme Court considering whether changes to birthright citizenship are legal.

Newsweek reported that Stock believes the Anchorage case will not be the last of its kind, specifically because “the U.S. Supreme Court” is considering the birthright citizenship issue and Republicans in Congress are pushing for tougher rules around who can be considered a U.S. citizen.

Newsweek

Stock told Newsweek that if Trump is successful at the Supreme Court in overturning the 14th Amendment, “we're going to see a lot more cases like this,” and she predicted, “In fact, we'll see hundreds of thousands of cases like this.”

She linked that potential outcome to the need for DNA proof, saying, “Because people are going to have to get DNA from their biological father in order to prove their citizenship.”

Newsweek also said the court is deciding whether President Donald Trump's January 2025 executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship is legal.

The Times of India described the same Supreme Court context, saying the case comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing challenges to birthright citizenship and a 2025 executive order that aims to limit it.

The Times of India quoted Stock’s prediction that, “So, if Trump is successful at the US Supreme Court in overturning the 14th Amendment, we're going to see a lot more cases like this. In fact, we'll see hundreds of thousands of cases like this.”

The sources lay out an immediate procedural timeline for the boy and his mother, while also describing the government’s posture on self-deportation.

“A 12-year-old boy born to a Nigerian mother and a US military serviceman is facing deportation in US after authorities questioned his citizenship”

The Times of India

Newsweek said a Department of Justice case tracker shows that the boy is facing his next immigration hearing in January 2027, while his mother has a pending asylum case.

The Times of India

The DHS spokesperson told Newsweek that the boy and his mother have a scheduled court date and will receive full due process, and the spokesperson also suggested self-deportation through the CBP Home app.

Newsweek quoted the DHS spokesperson saying, “Parents can take control of their departure with the CBP Home app and reserve the chance to come back the right legal way,” and it included the offer that, “The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now.”

The spokesperson added, “We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream.”

The Times of India similarly reported that the boy could be deported alongside his mother and that the father’s refusal to take the DNA test is part of why authorities are questioning citizenship.

It also said the court hearing in the boy’s case is scheduled for January 2027 while the mother’s asylum application remains pending, matching Newsweek’s timeline.

In the legal team’s framing, the boy is not yet in detention, and Stock said, “He's not in detention yet. They haven't come and grabbed him and put him in a detention center, but they've got him in deportation proceedings.”

The sources also connect the case to a broader policy debate about identity verification, with Clarin and El Cronista describing proposals that would make DNA and biometric checks more central in immigration decisions.