ICE launches as the primary immigration enforcement agency with no civilian detention oversight

ICE launched on March 1, 2003, absorbing INS enforcement functions and inheriting authority over the nation's immigration detention system. Congress created no independent civilian oversight body for ICE detention at its founding, leaving internal ICE inspections and the DHS Inspector General as the only checks on detention conditions. The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act had similarly established no external oversight for immigration confinement, creating a structural gap that persisted through ICE's founding.