Within the historical past part on ICE’s web site, one line reads: “Regardless of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s comparatively younger age, its purposeful historical past predates the fashionable delivery of the company by greater than 200 years.” That phrasing of “purposeful historical past” stands out. We all know that ICE was created in 2003. So what precisely do they imply by that? To unpack this declare, Vox producer Nate Krieger examines the historical past of immigration enforcement within the US.
The story of American immigration is one in all gradual change. Over time, the position of the immigration providers slowly modified, morphing from an company that managed labor and advantages to at least one that noticed itself as legislation enforcement, with a give attention to nationwide safety.
And with that shift got here a progress in capability. The primary federal immigration company was created in 1891 with a complete employees of 4 individuals. At present, with ICE, that quantity is over 22,000.
So how did immigration restrictions and enforcement change over the span of American historical past? By analyzing the centuries of occasions that culminated within the creation of ICE, we are able to start to grasp the context that created this contemporary company.
Sources and additional studying:
- For extra context, photographs, and written accounts of Ellis Island, see this web page on the Nationwide Park Service’s web site.
- For this story, Nate Krieger centered on the historical past main as much as 2003 and the creation of ICE, so the piece doesn’t delve into more moderen developments. However detailed data and knowledge on deportation in President Donald Trump’s second time period could be discovered right here and right here.
- And extra data on ICE’s arrests within the inside, that are a comparatively current phenomenon, could be discovered right here.
- This piece solely touched on Japanese incarceration in the course of the Second World Warfare. For extra data — and first-hand accounts — about this essential topic, Densho is a unbelievable useful resource.
- Immigration: How the Previous Shapes The Current by the sociologist Nancy Foner, who was interviewed for this piece, is a complete look into why the previous is essential to understanding fashionable immigration.
