The Conversation: How the 9/11 terrorist attacks shaped ICE’s immigration strategy

Pawan Dhingra writes in The Conversation writes

"Stephen Miller’s January 2026 announcement to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers – telling them that they have `immunity to perform your duties' and that no `illegal alien, no leftist agitator or domestic insurrectionist' can stop them – may seem like an extreme statement outside the political mainstream.

And when ICE agents use facial recognition software to monitor immigrants and protesters, that might seem like an unacceptable invasion of people’s privacy.

While extreme, these cases are not too unexpected. Both Miller’s statements and ICE’s monitoring extend from the framework of immigration enforcement that grew from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Immigration enforcement was reorganized and reframed after 9/11, particularly through the creation of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security."