ILRC marks 25 years since 9/11 and says security policies expanded surveillance of immigrants

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) says the federal government’s response reshaped immigration policy in ways that affected immigrant and Muslim communities for generations.

In a statement, ILRC argues that the push for “security” after 9/11 was used to justify overreach into people’s daily lives. The group says this helped create an enforcement approach built on suspicion and criminalization rather than support and due process.

ILRC highlights the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), implemented in 2002, as an early example of a system that required immigrants to register and be tracked. The statement says the program’s impact continued after it was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The ILRC also points to broader legal changes in the late 1990s and 1996 immigration laws, arguing that new legal tools helped cement an enforcement regime that could be applied to immigrant communities. The group links this to what it describes as growing Islamophobic and racist narratives about public safety.

Finally, ILRC connects the long-term effects of distrust and misinformation after 9/11 to today’s political climate, and it calls for a different approach—one focused on meeting basic needs and building belonging in communities.