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INSIGHT: The White House aide who is driving Trump's aggressive immigration policy

Marines from the United States on the streets of Los Angeles. Immigration officers masked at popular restaurants and courthouses. Travel bans for more than a dozen nations.

Stephen Miller, a senior White House adviser who was the architect of Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration, thought that everything was going as planned. Stephen Miller had set a quota for 3,000 arrests / day by late May. The efforts to reach that goal forced U.S. Immigration officers into more businesses and communities, which sparked protests and tensions between Democrats and Republicans.

Three former U.S. government officials who were aware of the call say that the president then called Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nuem. She was in Los Angeles in mid-June with other immigration officials.

One of the former U.S. officials stated that "he said: "We're going do this targeted"." Former officials say that after this call, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stopped raids at farms, hotels and restaurants, and food processing facilities. One of the former officials said that Trump did not know the extent of enforcement efforts. "Once it hit him, it was too late," the official told the reporter. The pause was brief. ICE rescinded its guidance just days after it had been issued, leaving many officials in confusion.

Two former officials stated that the episode showed a moment of dissonance in Trump's immigration staff, which had otherwise appeared to be on the same page with strategy. Miller's "no-holds barred" approach was an indication that it could be taken too far by the president.

An official at the White House said that there was no difference between Miller and Trump, and Miller's immigration enforcement approach had not targeted farms as a priority. The official said that the original ICE directive pausing raids was not authorized by top leaders in the administration.

Miller, 39 years old, is known for being obsessed with immigration. As deputy chief of staff, he has immense power in multiple areas within the West Wing. This influence has increased since Trump was elected president in 2017-2021. Miller's leadership has led the Trump administration to double immigration arrests, push the legal limits for deportations and block travelers from 19 different countries. It also moved to restrict the birthright citizenship, as well as help Republicans pass a spending bill that dedicates approximately $170 billion dollars to immigration enforcement.

Miller has also been a leading voice in many of President Obama's other initiatives, such as the fight against diversity and transgender issues. A person with knowledge of the matter says that Miller is part of a small team of White House staffers responsible for approving all executive orders.

Three former colleagues claim that Miller's immigration policies are experimental and test the limits of the Constitution. This includes a challenge to the 14th Amendment birthright citizenship.

One Republican official stated, "He has a worldview of which he is 100 percent certain."

Miller said that if Republicans did not support the spending bill Trump signed last week, the society would crumble.

In a blog post, he said: "Republicans spent generations promising Americans complete, total and full border security." "Now is the time to keep the promise that will determine the fate of civilisation itself."

Miller's critics claim that he is using nativism to further his political agenda and promoting policies which are more geared towards cruelty than effectiveness.

Noem and other administration officials praised Miller's loyalty to Trump, saying he played a key role in shaping the immigration agenda of the Trump administration.

She said that Stephen's passion, patriotism, and persistence helped fuel the administration to deport the most criminal illegal aliens ever in the history.

UNPRECEDENTED INFLUE

Trump regained the White House partly by campaigning against illegal immigration. He claimed that millions of people had entered the country unlawfully during former President Joe Biden's tenure and portrayed them as dangerous criminals to be expelled. Miller played a key role in promoting this narrative, and he championed policies that have fuelled Trump's aggressive crackdown. According to an /Ipsos survey, initially, immigration was Trump’s most popular issue. However, as the crackdown intensified, public approval dropped to 44% by mid-June, from 47% one month earlier.

Colleagues said that Miller's close and long-standing relationship with Trump is the reason for his unprecedented influence over immigration policy in the United States.

Marc Short, the former chief of staff of Vice President Mike Pence, said, "He was at the beginning, the very beginning, of the Trump phenomenon." "He has been loyal to the president since the beginning of the first administration."

Miller, a married father of three, became a key policy figure in Trump's first year. Former Trump administration officials said that Miller was driven and assertive and used the exact same tone in his interactions with colleagues and on television as he did when addressing audiences.

The former official stated that it was difficult to speak. "He is not interested in your opinion. This is not a conversation that involves collaboration. "If you engage him, he'll talk over you."

Former official says Miller called senior Homeland Security officials so frequently that they needed to have a staffer dedicated to talking to him.

According to a current official and a former official, the direct outreach to agency employees has continued into the current administration.

Two former officials stated that the threat of being fired or blacklisted if you crossed Miller, and possibly by Trump and his political allys, also contributed to Miller's authority.

Miller founded the conservative advocacy group America First Legal in 2021 after Trump left his office. The group filed or supported lawsuits on immigration policies, among other issues.

Miller, who was appointed deputy chief of staff in the second Trump administration and is also the White House Homeland Security Council's director, will coordinate immigration policies as well as other domestic security issues within the administration.

Miller was welcomed by his entire staff, unlike other parts of the National Security Council. He also appears to be more independent, according to a source familiar with the situation. The person who spoke to us said that Miller was "ready to rock and roll from Day One". Miller's homeland team was not affected by the NSC downsizing even though dozens of NSC officials were let go.

'XENOPHOBIC WORLD VIEW '

Miller was born in Santa Monica, California. About a quarter are foreign-born. Miller was a conservative from high school onwards and gained a reputation as a provocateur early in his career.

He studied at Duke University in North Carolina, where he was known for his defenses of lacrosse players accused of raping Black women working as strippers in 2006. He wrote about this case in newspaper articles and appeared on Fox News. Last year, the woman acknowledged that her accusations had been a hoax.

Democrats have accused Miller of being the driving force behind Trumps harshest policies.

Karen Bass is the current mayor of Los Angeles, and she has been at odds with the Trump Administration over ICE raids in the city.

Katie Miller was the wife of Miller during Elon Musk's roughly four-month stay at the White House. After Musk left the White House in late May, she went to work for Musk. Former and current Trump officials did not indicate that Trump's intermittent friction with Musk caused tension between him and his longtime assistant.

Miller's crackdown has continued for nearly a month, despite Trump's phone call and the back and forth over ICE raids. U.S. agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins stated on Tuesday that agricultural workers will not be granted "amnesty", and the administration is aiming to have an all-American workforce.

Federal agents in Los Angeles were flanked by U.S. troops wearing heavy armor, and they marched through the city park. This was a forceful display that enraged local officials. Trump called Miller "our hero" last week when introducing Miller at the opening of the migrant detention facility officials nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz". The center is located in the Florida Everglades wetlands, which are subtropical wetlands teeming reptiles and wildlife.

Trump, speaking at a roundtable discussion with Miller and Noem said that even Miller would have respected the way Noem handled her role. Trump said, "I don’t think he is fond of anyone."

Miller, in return, praised Trump's decision to empower ICE and Border Patrol and use legal tools and diplomacy for a more aggressive immigration enforcement.

Miller said, "Watching you, sir, was one of the greatest honors in my life." I'm proud that I could play a role in this. (Reporting from Ted Hesson in Washington and Jeff Mason in San Francisco, with additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt. Editing by Colleen J. Jenkins and Michael Learmonth.

(source: Reuters)