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While American forensic anthropologists often state that they estimate ancestry, is that what they are really estimating? Although typological terminology, the oids, was replaced with continental terminology, the change was linguistic rather than substantive. The American population is comprised largely of immigrants. Genetic data suggests a high degree of admixture within American population groups. Further, data from documented skeletal collections suggest that Americans have undergone secular changes. Our paper addresses the uniqueness of the American population as compared to ancestral continental and geographic origin groups to address what it is that forensic anthropologists are really estimating, ancestry or something else? We conclude, based on uniqueness of American population groups, that what forensic anthropologists are estimating is best described as affinity, a term that indicates similarity and is not exclusively attached to definitions of race and ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses administrative and ethical barriers to DNA data sharing for identification of migrants found the US–Mexico border exemplify the need for long-term solutions and sustainable processes. Topics include migrant families, multiple barriers limit identifications; and transnational missing cases, has a federal requirement of CODIS that FRS be collected by law enforcement personnel.