U.S. Immigration Policy Changes After 9/11

Introduction

The terrorist attacks on the United States that took place on September 11, 2001 had a number of far-reaching effects, among which changes in immigration policy must be considered especially significant. According to Malone (2003), one of the most dramatic changes is that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which had served as the primary agency overseeing a variety of immigration issues, was virtually abolished as an autonomous federal agency and, as of February 2003, reconstituted under the new Department of Homeland Security as the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Among the major policy changes is that local and state law enforcement agencies, along with their federal counterparts, are being required — and authorized — to use strict criteria in seeking out and detaining illegal immigrants (Pluviose-Fenton, 2003).

Prior to 9/11, the normative framework overseeing U.S. immigration policy was the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952. Under the terms of the INA, legal immigration to the United States became relatively widely available, and a substantial number of new Americans began to populate the country (Immigration and Nationality Act, 2003). Today, the Office of Citizenship — created by House Resolution 5005, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 — eliminated the INS and created a new mechanism for granting visas and citizenship, as well as for training and educating applicants for American citizenship (Welcome to the New Office of Citizenship, 2003).

Restructuring Immigration Under the Homeland Security Act

Under the Homeland Security Act, according to Malone (2003), three departments within the new cabinet-level bureaucracy were created. One handles border protection, another enforces immigration laws in the nation's interior, and a third handles naturalization, residency permits, and asylum claims. While part of the agency's mission is to cut waiting times for permits and citizenship applications, another objective is to reduce the number of immigrants entering the United States illegally and to screen out potential terrorist threats who may have managed to bypass the former INS vetting processes (Prewitt, 2003).

The USA PATRIOT Act and Its Impact on Immigrants

Prewitt (2003) notes that the debate on immigration reform has virtually vanished from the national agenda. The USA PATRIOT Act, which broadly expands the powers of federal law enforcement agencies investigating cases involving foreign intelligence and international terrorism, is likely to have a significant impact on many ethnic minorities living in the United States as students, guest workers, and potential citizens. Additionally, a crackdown on illegal immigrants is anticipated as the Department of Homeland Security moves to close the borders to unauthorized entry (Pluviose-Fenton, 2003).

Conclusion

Overall, changes in immigration policy and immigration law in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 have been quite dramatic (Malone, 2003). Malone (2003) points out that the government is legitimately anxious to ensure that individuals granted student or employment visas do not have any connections to suspect or known terrorist organizations. At the same time, there are those who believe that immigration law in general requires an overhaul in order to speed up the process by which individuals seeking U.S. citizenship are admitted to the country (Prewitt, 2003). Nevertheless, applicants for U.S. visas and citizenship will undoubtedly be more carefully screened in the coming years to ensure that a repetition of 9/11 is, to the extent possible, prevented. These changes reflect a new and enduring emphasis on national security.

References

Immigration and Nationality Act. (2003). Available at http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/prnfriendly.asp.

Malone, J. (2003). INS officially ceases to exist at midnight. The Austin-American Statesman, February 28, A3.

Pluviose-Fenton, V. (2003). House bill would compel local police to enforce federal immigration laws. Nation's Cities Weekly, 26(36), 3.

Prewitt, M. (2003). Many borders to cross: Immigration reform on rocky road. Nation's Restaurant News, 37(27), 1–4.

Welcome to the New Office of Citizenship. (2003). Available at http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/prnfriendly.asp.