Understanding U.S. Immigration History: From INS to ICE- High School

If you keep up with the news or scroll on social media, you will quickly realize that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is one of the most talked about and controversial agencies, if not THE most. To understand why ICE operates the way it does, you have to look back to its predecessor: the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service).

The story of how the INS became ICE represents a major shift in how the United States views immigration. In this shift, the U.S. went from a system focused on labor and social services to one focused heavily on national security and law enforcement.

The INS (1933–2003)

For 70 years, a single agency handled nearly all immigration matters in the United States: the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Created in 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the INS was originally housed in the Department of Labor because immigration was viewed primarily as an economic and workforce issue.

However, as international tensions rose during World War II, Pres. FDR moved the INS to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 1940 to give the government tighter security control over foreign nationals.

As a single agency, the INS was tasked with two contradictory goals.

1. Helping immigrants through the complex process of getting visas and becoming U.S. citizens.

2. Arresting and deporting immigrants who violated federal laws.

Critics from both sides of the political spectrum argued that the INS did a poor job at both tasks. Service applications took years to process, paperwork was frequently lost, and enforcement was often viewed as inconsistent.

September 11, 2001

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Congress put intense pressure on the Bush administration to drastically alter domestic security.

The federal government realized that having one agency handle both the friendly "customer service" side of immigration and the strict "national security" side was no longer working.

In response, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

INS ceased to exist.

DHS and ICE

The government launched the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002. To solve the old INS organizational crisis, the government officially separated the service and enforcement roles into three brand-new agencies:

• USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services):  the "service" duties (processing Green Cards, citizenship tests, and asylum claims).

• CBP (Customs and Border Protection): border enforcement and policing the actual entry ports and borders.

• ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement): interior enforcement, focused entirely on investigating transnational crime, detaining, and removing undocumented immigrants who are already inside the country.

Why is this History Relevant to You Today?

The legacy of the INS-to-ICE transition directly impacts major modern political debates.

Because ICE was created as a direct response to 9/11, immigration was officially framed as a national security threat rather than an economic or humanitarian concern. This shift has led to intense political division:

• Immigrant rights advocates argue that treating civil immigration violations like counter-terrorism operations has led to overly aggressive enforcement, raids in sensitive locations (like schools and courts), and poor conditions in detention centers. ICE's actions have been publicized greatly throughout the media, sparking the "Abolish ICE" movement, with some calling to return to a system more like the old INS and some calling for the complete upheaval of ICE and for progressive reform.

• Supporters of ICE argue that the agency is vital to public safety, pointing to its work investigating transnational cartels, human trafficking, and intellectual property theft through its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division.

Under the old INS, and during the earlier years of ICE, presidents typically prioritized deporting individuals who had committed serious violent crimes. However, because ICE has grown into a highly funded, powerful law enforcement machine, changes in presidential administrations bring drastic shifts in how that power is used. Recent administrations have swung between prioritizing only those with serious criminal records and prioritizing all undocumented immigrants for removal, regardless of how long they have lived in the U.S. or whether they have a clean record.

By dividing the helpful administrative side (USCIS) from the enforcement side (ICE), the government hoped to make both processes cleaner. However, because both agencies sit under the same umbrella (DHS), many immigrants still view the entire system with deep suspicion, fearing that applying for a benefit with USCIS could put them on ICE's radar. This may prevent them from going to USCIS to apply for citizenship in the first place.