9/11’s Immigration Legacy By JULIETA MARTINELLI , ALEJANDRA SALAZAR and VICTORIA ESTRADA SEP 10, 2021 HISTORY IMMIGRATION NEWS PODCASTS POLITICS September 11, 2001 was a paradigm shift. It is considered the deadliest terrorist attack in world history: nearly 3,000 people died and thousands more sustained lifelong injuries, depression, and PTSD. After the World Trade Center fell, a traumatized nation lived in terror of another attack, and amid the chaos, the United States set out to prioritize national safety above all. The 24-hour news cycle of the attacks focused endlessly on the identity of the terrorists: non-citizens who had been able to exploit “vulnerabilities” in the immigration system. In the eyes of the United States, “national safety” required an urgent revamp of the system—and the public agreed. People were willing to grant full control to government agencies under the guise that they’d keep Americans...