You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.

All you need is a few minutes to start your day off with something historic when you listen to the This Day in History podcast.

Every day there's a new episode for you to listen and learn about what happened that day way back when.

So listen and subscribe to This Day in History wherever you get your podcasts. That's

this day in history wherever you get your podcasts. Next year, the United States turns 250 years old,

a nation often described as a melting pot, with millions of people

from all walks of life. Nearly 40% of Americans can trace their ancestry back to Ellis Island,

including President Donald J. Trump himself. Millions came into New York by steamboat decades

ago in pursuit of opportunity and freedom.

Today, 15% of the United States population is made up of those who were not born here,

with millions more immigrating to the nation every year, looking for the same things as those who immigrated before them.

Freedom and opportunity.

One notable difference between immigration of the past and the

present is that for 227 years, the U.S. immigration and customs enforcement, or what you know as

ICE, was not involved with the process because they did not exist. ICE is only about 22 years old.

Their mission is to protect America through criminal investigations and enforcing immigration laws to preserve national security and public safety.

Does this mean that before ICE the borders were just wide open and unprotected? Not exactly.

But many supporters of stricter border policy would be shocked at just how easy it once was to enter the country.

Deportation has always been a part of United States history. United States government has been deporting people since the colonial period.

Donald Trump, in one of his first days in office in his second term, evoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. This was a wartime

law that allowed the president to deport citizens of the United States that were deemed enemies.

The main ingredient for deportations and mass removal of people from the United States has

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