Immigration Policy Before and After 9/11: From the INS to DHS– Where Did We Go Wrong?

(Editor’s note: This essay is part of a Symposium published for the twentieth anniversary of September 11th; co-organized by Just Security and the Reiss Center on Law and Security.)

Immigration policy, like so many other facets of American life, has been indelibly altered since the 9/11 terror attacks, forever linking how the United States approaches migration to homeland security. The chain of events set into motion that day led to a fundamental shift in the immigration narrative – re-framing it as both a risk to and a tool of U.S. national security efforts. Using the legislative momentum provoked by the attacks, and the newly created Department of Homeland Security as a way to achieve long-standing immigration reform goals, policymakers have made choices over the last 20 years that have forever transformed the national dialogue on how the United States welcomes – or not – those who choose to come to its shores. But by ignoring lessons of the past 80 years of immigration processes, the United States is right where it started – with an overburdened, unwieldy immigration system that runs counter to its economic needs, cultural growth and, ultimately, its national values.

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