If one of Al Qaeda's intentions on Sept. 11, 2001, was to change America for the worse, they were definitely successful, albeit maybe not in the way they intended. Nothing is more illustrative of that than the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
When it was created, it was clear to some (or at least a few) that it was only a matter of time that its power would be abused. This doesn't mean that most of the functions within DHS aren't important and necessary. Keep in mind that there really were not a lot of new powers inherent in its creation. Pretty much everything it did was already being done elsewhere, in other governmental departments and agencies. These various things were rounded up and put under a new Department.
The abuse of its powers, of course, culminated under the Trump Administration, but the kernel was there from the start. If all those functions are now under an umbrella of "homeland security" then it is inevitable that threats will be seen everywhere. (The old cliche "when your a hammer, everything looks like a nail" was made for DHS.) And when you see threats everywhere, it really means that people of color and ethnic and racial minorities are in for a hard time.
The country would be better off without DHS, but it'll probably never happen. Even when things are unpopular or counterproductive, it's hard to undo them in the US. (Sex offender registries, cash bail, war on drugs, etc., also fall into this category.) But it's still worth debating.
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