How George W. Bush Created ICE

Foreign Policy

by Julian E. Zelizer

March 2, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

Senate democrats have withheld funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless republicans agree to ICE reforms. This move comes amid intense controversy over ICE's actions, including recent deaths of U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents. The presence of ICE agents in major cities across the country has sparked widespread concern, with 60% of Americans believing the agency has gone too far. The creation of DHS under George W. Bush after 9/11 fundamentally transformed the national security apparatus. This new entity gave the president unprecedented power within U.S. borders, resembling what traditional conservatives and civil libertarians have long warned against—a "garrison state." While initially established to prevent terrorist attacks following al Qaeda's atrocities, DHS has shown how easily its powers can be repurposed under different leadership. The story of DHS's creation is tied to the lessons learned from past abuses. In the mid-1970s, high-profile congressional hearings exposed CIA surveillance of anti-war protesters and other abuses, leading to reforms like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 and restrictions on FBI investigations. However, as the U.S. faced new threats from stateless terrorist networks in the 1990s, these safeguards began to erode. The national security landscape shifted dramatically

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Originally published on Foreign Policy on 3/2/2026