The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 shook everyone awake to the fact that global terrorists have pledged to kill us and harm our country.

After recognizing that our open society and open borders was an invitation to terrorists, Congress and the public decided we needed a specific agency to patrol our interior from foreign threats. In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security established the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency as one of three DHS agencies in charge of the immigration system. The development of ICE was the single largest government rearrangement since the the Department of Defense. For the past 15 years, we have trusted our ICE agents to work with the Department of Homeland Security and protect our country from another foreign attack. The Center for Immigration Studies found that at least 22 of the 48 al Qaeda foreign-born terrorists found operating in the United States from 1993 to 2001 had committed significant violations of immigration laws.