9/11 and Immigration: Twenty-Five Years of Lessons and Unfinished Business

Twenty-five years after 9/11, is the United States better prepared to prevent another terrorist attack?

The Center for Immigration Studies convened a panel to examine that question, discussing the role immigration and border security played in the attacks, the major policy changes that followed, and the national-security challenges that remain.

Former U.S. Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduced the panel and offered brief remarks. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest at the time of the attacks, Sessions was deeply involved in congressional oversight of immigration and national security in the years following 9/11.

The panel at examined how the attacks reshaped U.S. immigration policy, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, changes to visa screening and information sharing, and increased attention to border security. The panel also revisited the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission: What was implemented? What was left undone? In addition, a European security expert discussed how 9/11 affected policy there as well.