[8][9] With assistance from Midge Miller, whose campaign she had managed, Meissner became a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus and its executive director in 1971.

[6] In 1973, Meissner joined the U.S. Department of Justice as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the Attorney General.

It occurred shortly after the accident where the Golden Venture, a cargo ship smuggling 286 undocumented immigrants from China ran aground on the beach in New York.

[3] A later New York Times article reviewing her first few years in office described her mandate as "keeping open America's front door while slamming shut the back.

The criticism came from Texas Representative Lamar Smith, chairman of the United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

[4][7][11] Others who made withering criticisms of Meissner's record included T. J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, and Dan Stein, executive director of Federation for American Immigration Reform.

[4] A U.S. Department of Justice report lambasted the INS for a malfunctioning fingerprinting process and a computer system so antiquated that officials couldn't determine exactly how many applicants they had.

[12] After finishing her tenure at the INS, Meissner' returned to work at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on the Immigration Policy Project.