Publicity surrounding the "War on Terror" has resulted in increased concerns about border security, and spilled over into increased domestic pressure on undocumented aliens. This increased pressure and massive expenditure of federal dollars has taken place with little regard for its social or human rights consequences. Unlike criminally-charged U.S. citizens, who have an array of constitutional protections, guaranteed access to an attorney in all felony cases and many misdemeanor cases, the undocumented alien generally has much more limited sums and resources to defend themselves from harassment, arrest, and deportation. In many instances, the children of the undocumented, even if citizens by virtue of birth in the U.S., are at risk of losing one or both parents to deportation.
ICE's predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (INS), came into being as part of the Justice Department in 1921, when the federal government realized that unfettered immigration was not in the country's best interest. INS was, at best, a poor stepchild of Justice, receiving minimal resources and manpower. It had massive responsibilities, at least on paper, but was not given the money to carry them out. Lost alien files and spotty enforcement were common. INS' best employees routinely sought transfers to other more respected areas of law enforcement.
All of this changed after 9/11, when the Homeland Security Act of 2002 opened the funding floodgates, and brought about the transfer of INS responsibilities into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in 2003.
