A Catalogue of Miller’s Cruelty

“Will not be questioned” (February 2017)
On CBS’s Face the Nation, Miller said the president’s powers to protect the country “will not be questioned.” Critics heard a rejection of judicial review after courts blocked the travel ban.
Read: CBS transcript · Washington Post

Helped draft the 2017 travel ban
NBC News reported that Miller played a key role in drafting the order barring travel from several Muslim-majority countries, and Reuters described him as an architect of it.
Read: NBC News · Reuters (via Yahoo)

Pushed family separation (2018)
The New York Times reported that Miller was the most prominent advocate inside the administration for zero tolerance and never gave up on the idea. NBC later reported that he, with Jeff Sessions’ support, pushed to separate all immigrant families, even those in civil court proceedings. More than 2,800 children were separated before Trump ended the policy by executive order.
Read: New York Times · NBC News

Pushed to deny green cards to immigrants who use public benefits (2019)
Miller pushed the “public charge” rule, which let officials deny green cards to legal immigrants who had used, or might use, certain public benefits. The Texas Tribune noted that the rule fulfilled a longtime Miller goal and got around Congress’s refusal to pass a similar overhaul. The Migration Policy Institute estimated that more than half of family-based green card applicants could be denied under it.
Read: Politico (via Yahoo) · Texas Tribune · Al Jazeera

Orchestrated the 2019 shake-up at Homeland Security
According to people familiar with the matter, Miller orchestrated the effort to replace top DHS leaders when Trump’s frustrations over the border boiled over. Homeland Security officials also told the Washington Post he was behind a proposal to bus migrants to the districts of the president’s political opponents.
Read: AP (via PBS) · Washington Post (via Bangor Daily News)

Pushed to close the border using pandemic powers (2020)
An AP investigation found that Miller pushed for the Title 42 expulsion order, and that CDC scientists refused to back it because there was no evidence it would slow the virus. By that October, nearly 150,000 people had been expelled without the usual due process, including at least 8,800 unaccompanied children. Pence’s spokeswoman, Katie Miller (Stephen Miller’s wife), denied the AP’s account that Pence directed the CDC to issue the order. Read: AP (via NBC Washington) · AP (via KSAT)

Proposed using the Alien Enemies Act for deportations (2025–present)
Miller had proposed using the 1798 wartime law to deport migrants. He has also reportedly written or edited every executive order Trump has signed this term. When a federal judge blocked deportation flights to El Salvador, Miller said the court had no authority, and the administration was accused of ignoring the order to turn the planes around.
Read: GV Wire · The Hill (via Yahoo)

Set the 3,000-arrests-a-day target for ICE
Axios reported that in a high-level meeting, Miller and Kristi Noem demanded that agents seek to arrest 3,000 people a day. Reuters reports that he pushed ICE to target anyone in the country illegally, not only people with criminal records, and that Home Depot lots became arrest hotspots after he named them. Government lawyers later told a court no such quota had been set.
Read: Immigration Policy Tracking Project (Axios report) · WLRN · Reuters (via GV Wire)

Led a push to remove migrant children (2026)
The administration stepped up efforts to remove undocumented children, with Miller reportedly coordinating the work across federal agencies. Monthly removal orders for children rose from 7,366 in January 2025 to 16,750 in July 2026. Lawyers and rights groups are challenging parts of the effort. The White House says it aims to protect children.
Read: IBTimes

Calling Alex Pretti a “domestic terrorist” (January 2026)
Hours after a Border Patrol agent killed Pretti, a U.S. citizen, in Minneapolis, Miller labeled him a “domestic terrorist”, though Reuters-verified video showed Pretti holding a phone, not a gun. In March, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said on CNN that Miller should go, calling him a big problem with outsized influence over the Cabinet.
Read: Reuters (via GV Wire) · Irish Times, Watch: Tillis on CNN, embedded on Fox News