Immigration Policy After 9/11

September 11, 2001 was a day that devastated our nation and changed the lives of every American in some way.These terrorist attacks would ignite many changes in the lives of United State citizens.The U.S. government implemented a series of critical immigration policy measures,such as heightened airport security,increased funding,removing criminals,and turning police officers into immigration agents to respond to future threats of terrorism.In this paper we will examine how the attacks contributed to different factors.

    On September 11, 2001, Islamic extremists stole four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against the United States. Two of the airplanes were flown into the twin towers in New York City, the third airplane hit the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth airplane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Known as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering the United States to create major changes in their security and terrorism protocols. While everyone agrees that what happened on 9/11 was terrible, many believe that the changes in America’s security protocols are not for the best. How 9/11 affected America’s security protocols was for the worse, it caused: privacy invasion for foreign and American civilians in airports, immigration laws increased out of fear, and discrimination and racism towards Arab civilians.

Prior to the events of 9/11, for nearly two decades, America welcomed immigrations to our country with open arms. After 9/11, America’s ideals begin to shift pertaining to immigrants, our nation’s safety, and border patrol. America was left with great fear, post 9/11, and began to implement many changes in our border patrol and immigration laws. “In response to record numbers of illegal border crossings and the security fears triggered by the 9/11 attacks, over the past two decades the United States has steadily increased its efforts to secure its borders against illegal immigration. The number of U.S. Border Patrol agents has risen from fewer than

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, immigration control and national homeland security have been issues of concern for both the national government and private citizens. In the wake of the attacks, a lot of articles were written about what the appropriate response should be to prevent another attack. In 2004, Mark Krikorian wrote an article for the Providence Journal entitled “Safety through Immigration Control” in which he contends that the only means to keep America safe from a follow-up attack is to strengthen and enforce immigration law to prevent terrorists from being able to enter the country. Edwidge Danticat, writing for The Nation in 2005, provides a juxtaposition to Krikorian’s stance in her essay “Not Your Homeland”, in which she describes her witnessing of the inhumane conditions many immigrants are forced to endure in the name of increased security to protect the country. She questions whether the added protections are worth the human cost we are paying by treating immigrants and refugees as guilty until proven innocent. At the crossroads of these two perspectives lies the question: what is the proper balance between national security and the humane treatment of immigrants?

There is an assessed 11 million illegal aliens that are living United States, and this population is projected to upturn by 500,000 yearly. Once a year, about 1 million people that are considered to be aliens are detained when they make the attempt to come in the United States unlawfully. Even though most of these foreigners arrive the United States for financial chances and family reunification, or they are avoiding civil trouble and political unrest, some are offenders, and some could possibly be terrorists. Every one of them is disrupting the United States' immigration laws. With that said, this paper will involve the case study of immigration enforcement and the circumstances around the issue.

1) Is current immigration policy seriously treated as a national security issue? How was it treated prior to 9/11?

1) Is current immigration policy seriously treated as a national security issue? How was it treated prior to September 11th?

As of 2012, 11.2 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States, making up one third of the country’s foreign-born population (Krogstad, Passel). The majority of the Republican Party, angered by the lack of security and enforcement required to control the issue, wish to allot as much time and resources possible into restricting access to those who fail to enter the country legally (repubicanviews.org). In her recent work, blatant conservative blogger Michelle Malkin critiqued the government’s handling of the situation and vocalized her disapprobation towards the subject when she asserted there are more urgent matters, such as terrorist threats, for the country to address. She states, “Capitol Hill and the White House have been far too preoccupied with legalizing millions of illegal aliens in the name of homeland security to follow up” (Malkin).

The events of September 11, 2001 initiated another shift in the United States' immigration policy by dramatically increasing immigration enforcement. Immigrant removals, including deportations and so-called voluntary departures, had doubled since the attacks and fewer immigrants, especially from the Middle East are allowed in the Western countries. United States and other big countries in the European Union were the first ones to revise their policy in line with the new context of national security. Since September 11 attacks, the emphasis of American immigration policies became border security and removing criminal immigrants to keep national safety and prevent future terrorist attacks. At the same time, the United States kept its commitment

In the years after 9/11, immigration control have become under speculation and debates have start that immigration control is part of homeland security. Many people believe it to be true because the 9/11 attackers were going through immigration system and had one way or another violated the system and no actions

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 shook up the lives of all Americans. On September 11, 2001, nineteen radicals who were associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda high jacked four airplanes with the intent to carry out terrorist attacks. Two airplanes went into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City killing over two thousand six hundred people. They also attacked the pentagon in Washington D.C killing over one hundred people, as well as a plane going down in Pennsylvania killing all people aboard the plane. Due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, national security has improved dramatically with the intent of an increase of public safety.

The United States faces serious issues surrounding current immigration policy. The situation produces debates throughout the country and a further divided congress, a scared nation, and scattered troops. Solutions have been presented in the form of very big walls, complex tracking systems, and overly simplified exportation of illegal aliens. However, no real steps of action have been agreed upon to rectify the situation. The US boast in its diversity; stemming from immigrants seeking recovery and opportunity. In the past, the nation thrived under the minds and views of many different peoples and cultures. The US people and government gradually showed themselves to be a dominant international force in the global community. Because of the melting pot of backgrounds, innovation thrived in the medical, science, mathematical, and engineering fields. Policy in the last 50 years naturally migrated towards the progressive attitude of nation, affected by the large population of immigrants, but the attitude changed detrimentally and dramatically after the attacks on 9/11. Based on fear and anxiety, many immigration policies were changed to protect citizens from reliving such a catastrophic event once again. The AIC, American Immigration Council, summarizes the purpose of Immigration law as “the reunification of families, admitting immigrants with skills that are valuable to the U.S. economy, protecting refugees, and promoting diversity.” (How the United)

As previously established, the United States, a country with borders stretching over thousands of miles, lacks the capacity to fully observe and protect every corner of its territory. Some individuals seem unmoved by so many undocumented persons entering the country, stating that “borders should generally be open and… people should normally be free to leave their country of origin and settle in another…” (Higgins 528). However, these proponents of open borders neglect to recognize that as hundreds of illegal immigrants cross the borders, the issue of terrorism and overall safety becomes a major concern. Without undergoing the proper restrictions and precautions required to enter the United States, these illegal immigrants could potentially be a major threat to the country. So in order to decrease these Terrisits attacks in the United States, we need to strengthen the border security. Because of the events of 9/11 and the expanding population of displaced people, the legislature of the United States has consistently expanded its endeavors to upgrade national security over the previous years. The Secure Fence Act of 2006, marked into law by George W. Shrubbery, ordered the development of 652 miles of wall along our Southern fringes. What's more, as of February 2012, DHS has finished 651 miles of obstructions. As per DHS, the quantity of Border Patrol specialists

The United States of America experienced the greatest, and arguably the most significant, restructure of both governmental and legal proportions in its contemporary history. Following the suddenness of the attacks, the United States was desperate to ensure that an onslaught of a similar stature was subdued. Henceforth, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was established, bringing into existence the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a department specifically concerned with internal issues faced by the USA. Primarily made as a direct response to the 9/11 attacks, the role of the DHS is to protect the United States of America and its given states and territories from danger; specifically, terrorist attacks, man-made accidents, and natural disasters; this is commonly seen in airports in the form of Customs and Border Control which are two functions of the DHS, following its subsequent take over of the IHS (Immigration and Naturalisation Services) in 2003. In the same movement for security, the *USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 was legislated in an attempt to “detect and prosecute terrorism and other crimes”

Implementing stringent security controls along the borders is likely to reduce the influx of illegal immigration into the United States. With the increased border security, the American government could have helped alleviate the occurrence of the 9/11 bombing. Though this strategy is essential in alleviating the influx of illegal immigrants to certain geographic areas, increased border controls in these locations have made other, less controlled areas of the border more vulnerable. Rising crime rates, discarded debris, increased apprehension rates, and growing public scrutiny in these less secure areas provide clear evidence that border security is at once a social, an economic, and a national security issue.