A Timeline of Immigration Enforcement and the Leadership Failure Behind It

by: Jessie Simmons

Category: National Wedge Issues

1970s–1980s: Enforcement fills the first gap
As undocumented immigration increased, Congress failed to modernize legal pathways to match labor demand. INS relied heavily on workplace and border enforcement, particularly in agriculture, construction, and manufacturing.
By the early 1980s, INS was already deporting or returning several hundred thousand people per year, largely recent border crossers and undocumented workers encountered at job sites.
Court records and reporting from this era document recurring cases of U.S. citizens being mistakenly detained during INS operations due to identity errors or incomplete records.
While rare, deaths connected to enforcement actions did occur, most often tied to vehicle pursuits, medical emergencies, or workplace panic during raids rather than direct use of force.

1986: A partial fix and a missed opportunity
The Immigration Reform and Control Act legalized roughly 3 million people but failed to modernize future legal pathways or fully enforce employer compliance.
Despite legalization, annual deportations and removals continued in the hundreds of thousands through the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Mistaken detention of U.S. citizens continued during this period, particularly in workplace enforcement actions.
Deaths related to enforcement remained uncommon but did not disappear, reflecting the persistent risks of high-volume operations under an unchanged system.

1990s: Raids become routine
INS conducted regular workplace raids nationwide, and many Americans personally witnessed them. Enforcement was controversial but generally treated as administrative rather than existential.
Throughout the 1990s, annual removals and returns consistently remained in the hundreds of thousands.
Journalistic investigations and civil rights cases continued to document wrongful detention of U.S. citizens.
Occasional deaths tied to enforcement pursuits or medical distress during operations were reported, reinforcing concerns about escalation and system strain.

2001–2003: National security reshapes enforcement
After 9/11, immigration enforcement was folded into the national security framework. INS was dissolved and ICE was created in 2003, expanding authority and resources without modernizing the law itself.
Removals increased steadily in the early 2000s as enforcement capacity expanded.
Documented cases of U.S. citizens being mistakenly detained increased alongside volume.
Deaths connected to enforcement encounters, including vehicle pursuits and arrests, became more visible and more frequently litigated.

2006–2008: Mass ICE raids and growing backlash
Large coordinated workplace raids such as Swift, Postville, and New Bedford marked a turning point in scale and visibility.
By the late 2000s, annual removals exceeded 350,000, with a growing share involving long-settled workers and parents.
Civil rights organizations documented dozens of confirmed cases of U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in connection with large-scale raids.
Deaths associated with enforcement operations and post-raid consequences, including medical neglect and stress-related incidents, drew national scrutiny and legal action.

2010s: Executive action replaces legislation
With Congress gridlocked, presidents of both parties relied on executive discretion to set enforcement priorities, causing policy to swing with administrations.
Annual removals during this decade routinely ranged from roughly 300,000 to over 400,000.
DHS and federal courts acknowledged a persistent pattern of U.S. citizens being mistakenly detained each year.
Deaths related to enforcement were infrequent but continued to occur, including fatalities during arrests, pursuits, and in detention settings tied to enforcement decisions.

Early 2020s: The same system under new strain
The enforcement framework remained largely unchanged, but pressure increased due to migration surges, pandemic disruptions, court backlogs, and political polarization.
By the early 2020s, the immigration court backlog exceeded 2 million cases, and border encounters reached historic highs.
Mistaken detention of U.S. citizens continued under strained conditions.
Deaths connected to enforcement encounters, custody, or pursuit remained rare but persisted, reflecting accumulated system stress rather than isolated novelty.

2023–2024: Edge management framed as a solution
In response to mounting pressure, a bipartisan Senate border bill was negotiated to manage surges through faster processing, emergency authorities, and staffing increases.
The bill would have improved border management and asylum processing but did not modernize the immigration system itself.
The risk of wrongful detention and fatal outcomes remained an acknowledged consequence of an enforcement-first system focused on throughput over precision.

2025–Present: A familiar system under renewed political pressure
The current Trump administration took office in January and inherited the same enforcement framework, court backlogs, and statutory limitations that have existed for decades. Immigration enforcement priorities were quickly expanded, rhetoric sharpened, and operations intensified within authorities that Congress had already delegated over time.

Early enforcement actions under this administration have relied on existing ICE authorities and legacy statutes rather than newly enacted immigration law.
As enforcement activity increased, familiar risks resurfaced, including mistaken detention of U.S. citizens, high-visibility operations, and encounters that escalated rapidly under political and public scrutiny.
Deaths connected to enforcement encounters remain rare but have occurred, reinforcing that the underlying system continues to generate high-risk situations regardless of who occupies the White House.

Public reaction during this period has been more immediate and volatile than in earlier decades, shaped by social media, collapsed institutional trust, and rhetoric that frames enforcement actions as existential conflicts. Investigations now unfold in an environment where conclusions are often accepted or rejected along ideological lines before facts are fully established.

This phase does not represent a new system. It represents a familiar system operating in a more fractured political culture, once again revealing the consequences of Congress’s long-standing failure to modernize immigration law and govern proactively.

The through-line
Across five decades, enforcement expanded while governance stagnated.
Hundreds of thousands were removed year after year. In every era, a small but recurring number of U.S. citizens were mistakenly detained, and deaths connected to enforcement operations occurred, though infrequently.
These outcomes are not new, not confined to one agency or administration, and not primarily the result of malicious intent. They are the predictable consequences of relying on enforcement to compensate for decades of legislative failure.

The conclusion is not that enforcement is inherently evil, nor that public outrage is irrational. It is that a broken system, left unfixed for decades, reliably produces harm, mistrust, and volatility regardless of who holds power.

That is the leadership failure at the center of this moment.