How did we get to ICE?
In the history section on ICE’s website, one line reads: “Despite U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's relatively young age, its functional history predates the modern birth of the agency by more than 200 years.” That phrasing of “functional history” stands out. We know that ICE was created in 2003. So what exactly do they mean by that? To unpack this claim, Vox producer Nate Krieger examines the history of immigration enforcement in the US.The story of American immigration is one of gradual change. Over time, the role of the immigration services slowly changed, morphing from an agency that managed labor and benefits to one that saw itself as law enforcement, with a focus on national security.
And with that shift came a growth in capacity. The first federal immigration agency was created in 1891 with a total staff of 4 people. Today, with ICE, that number is over 22,000.
So how did immigration restrictions and enforcement change over the span of American history? By examining the centuries of events that culminated in the creation of ICE, we can begin to understand the context that created this modern agency.
Sources and further reading:
For more context, images, and written accounts of Ellis Island, see this page on the National Park Service’s website: https://www.nps.gov/elis/learn/historyculture/index.htm
For this story, Nate Krieger focused on the history leading up to 2003 and the creation of ICE, so the piece does not delve into more recent developments. But detailed information and data on deportation in President Donald Trump’s second term can be found here: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/immigration-detention-report.pdf and https://deportationdata.org/analysis/immigration-enforcement-first-nine-months-trump
And more information on ICE’s arrests in the interior, which are a relatively recent phenomenon, can be found here: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/ice-arrests-deportations-interior
This piece only touched on Japanese incarceration during the Second World War. For more information — and first-hand accounts — about this important subject, Densho is a fantastic resource: https://ddr.densho.org/
"Immigration: How the Past Shapes The Present" by the sociologist Nancy Foner, who was interviewed for this piece, is a comprehensive look into why the past is critical to understanding modern immigration: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=immigration-how-the-past-shapes-the-present--9781509557912
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