ICE officer Joseph Harrington recounts September 11, 2001

I am Joseph Harrington. I'm a supervisory detention and deportation officer working out of the New York field office. I supervise individuals who are processing cases or people who are being arrested or being put into immigration proceedings.

I've been with ICE since February of 2007. On 911 2001, I was actually a senior immigration inspector stationed at Kennedy Airport. So, how I heard about the events of 911 was my neighbors screaming that the tower has fell.

The tower has fell. I jumped up, ran to the TV, and turned it on. And I was just able to catch just that tower coming down.

You kind of knew the world changed. As the poet says, change utterly. I was called into the airport at around 1:30, 2:00.

Now, this is a Tuesday at 4:00, 4:30. It should be bustling with everything, planes coming in. And it was only me.

It was literally only me. I really do believe that my role as a deportation officer or as a supervisory deportation officer is helping America be safe. We are the interior immigration enforcement agents of of of the country and we work with other law enforcement agencies.

I would much prefer to work with more law enforcement agencies like state and local, but I'm here in New York and I can't. If you are thinking about becoming a deportation officer, I would say really think seriously and think about the opportunities that you are going to have should you become one. It really is amazing when you get into the details of what our responsibilities are and how you can work with different agencies and apply immigration law to protect the country.