The New York Times published a long article about the rise and power of Stephen Miller. Miller is one of Trump’s closest aides. His title is Deputy Chief of Staff but he seems to be in charge of immigration policy and many more areas. His goal is to deport every immigrant out of the U.S.
This is a gift article, so you should be able to open it and read it.
Here are a few choice selections.
About the turmoil in Los Angeles, where Trump nationalized the state Guard and sent in hundreds of Marines, which generated protests:
The crisis, from the immigration raids that sparked the protests to the militarized response that tried to put the protests down, was almost entirely of Mr. Miller’s making. And it served as a testament to the remarkable position he now occupies in Mr. Trump’s Washington. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who reportedly accompanied Mr. Miller on his visit to ICE headquarters, seems to defer to him. “It’s really Stephen running D.H.S.,” a Trump adviser said. The attorney general, Pam Bondi, is so focused on preparing for and appearing on Fox News that she has essentially ceded control of the Department of Justice to Mr. Miller, making him, according to the conservative legal scholar Edward Whelan, “the de facto attorney general.” And in a White House where the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is not well versed or terribly interested in policy — “She’s producing a reality TV show every day,” another Trump adviser said, “and it’s pretty amazing, right?” — Mr. Miller is typically the final word.
There is much truth to the conventional wisdom that the biggest difference between the first and second Trump presidencies is that, in the second iteration, Mr. Trump is unrestrained. The same is true of Mr. Miller. He has emerged as Mr. Trump’s most powerful, and empowered, adviser. With the passage of the big policy bill, ICE will have an even bigger budget to execute Mr. Miller’s vision and, in effect, serve as his own private army. Moreover, his influence extends beyond immigration to the battles the Trump administration is fighting on higher education, transgender rights, discrimination law and foreign policy….
Mr. Miller is more obdurate when it comes to domestic policy, particularly immigration. For Mr. Trump’s second term, he has led the president to stake out a series of maximalist positions, from the ICE raids to the use of the Alien Enemies Act to raising the possibility of suspending habeas corpus for people suspected of being undocumented immigrants. Mr. Trump seems to enjoy having Mr. Miller play the heavy on immigration. During his first term, he jokingly told people who urged him to take more moderate stances on immigration that Mr. Miller would never go for them. Last year, he reportedly quipped during a campaign meeting that if it was up to Mr. Miller, the population of the United States would be only 100 million people and they’d all resemble Mr. Miller. The humor, however, underscores something serious: On immigration, Millerism is a more consistent ideology than Trumpism.
While Mr. Miller is an ardent restrictionist, seeking to reduce all immigration to the United States, Mr. Trump has at times backed H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers; created a wait-list for a proposed special visa, called a Trump Gold Card, that wealthy immigrants could buy for $5 million apiece; and expressed regret about the impact ICE raids were having on the agriculture and hospitality industries. Indeed, the backlash to the ICE raids was so great that in early June, Mr. Trump reversed himself and declared the agriculture and hospitality sectors off-limits to that sort of strict immigration enforcement — before, after intense lobbying from Mr. Miller, he reversed himself again. Still, the hiccup was enough to hint at a broader potential rupture, especially if Mr. Miller’s immigration policies continue to prove unpopular. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 57 percent of Americans disapprove of Mr. Trump’s handling of immigration, once his greatest political strength.

Trump is just a tool.
LikeLike
I disagree. Trump is a known micromanager with a long history. Everything that happens has his approval.
Trump is the most aggressive micromanager in the history of the Oval Office | The Washington Post, September 13, 2019
Ex-Trump workers describe egocentric micromanager: ‘Donald loves Donald’
Still, Trump shows us he knows that what he approves of might come back and bite him so he puts distance between him and whoever he allows to do what they do like Elon Musk.
Trump is skilled at not only creating chaos but also sending others to prison in his place. Hundreds went to prison instead of him for January 6, 2021. They had to wait to get pardoned.
Charted: Trump world allies sentenced to prison [for doing what Trump wanted]
Numerous individuals who worked for Donald Trump’s administration or associated organizations have been fired or have resigned due to scandals or controversies.
Some notable examples include:
This list is not exhaustive. The Trump administration has been characterized by a high level of staff turnover, with many departures linked to ethical concerns, policy disagreements, or a desire for loyalty within the administration.
LikeLike
There is a game afoot that is much, much bigger than is Trump. Same was true with Hitler. Trump is just the face, and he’s too stupid to manage much of anything.
LikeLike
Trump does not know enough of the details to micromanage. He is breathtakingly ignorant. His controllers have papers drawn up and put in front of IQ 47, and he signs them.
LikeLike
While attention is rightly focused on the pathology of Stephen Miller, i think it is important to keep an eye on the ball that Trump and his hench(wo)men are not the disease itself, but the symptom of a wider sickness, vomited up by a decaying society. Chris Hedges has variously written and spoken on this theme, one example https://scheerpost.com/2024/11/07/chris-hedges-the-politics-of-cultural-despair-2/.
So it’s kinda like the sleight-of-hand of the magician or the con artist on the street. Guard your valuables. Though as seen with the passage of the BIG BEAUTIFUL BUDGET-BUSTING-MEDICAID-EVISCERATING BILL, they’ll get the house silverware eventually, one way or another.
LikeLike
Another Chris Hedges reference with video can be found here https://scheerpost.com/2020/10/19/chris-hedges-the-politics-of-cultural-despair/
LikeLike
We cannot hope for anything better than Stephen Miller if we choose a criminal like Trump for a president.
Back in the Nineteenth Century, John Stuart Mill suggested that the executive function of government should not be elected, but instead should be hired to fulfill the duties assigned by a legislative body. The executive should be designed as a professional class that is skilled at the functions of running government and following laws from a legislature. This design was for the purpose of keeping the latest Robespierre or James II from turning the executive into an ideological quagmire.
Mill seems appropriate to discuss now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Roy,
The career civil service filled the role you describe. They were the experts who kept the federal government functioning no matter which party was elected.
Trump has decapitated the top civil servants in most agencies and replacing them with loyalists. He is intent on politicizing the civil service, hiring only those who share his policies.
LikeLike
According to the ACLU in 2010:
“Is the fact of being present in the United States in violation of the immigration laws a crime?
“No. The act of being present in the United States in violation of the immigration laws is not, standing alone, a crime. While federal immigration law does criminalize some actions that may be related to undocumented presence in the United States, undocumented presence alone is not a violation of federal criminal law. Thus, many believe that the term ‘illegal alien,’ which may suggest a criminal violation, is inaccurate or misleading.
“Entering the United States without being inspected and admitted,
i.e., illegal entry, is a misdemeanor or can be a felony, depending on the circumstances. 8 U.S.C. § 1325. But many undocumented immigrants do not enter the United States illegally. They enter legally but overstay, work without authorization, drop out of school or violate the conditions of their visas in some other way. Current estimates are that approximately 45% of undocumented immigrants did not enter illegally. See Pew Hispanic Center, Modes of Entry for the Unauthorized Migrant Population [May 22, 2006].
“Undocumented presence in the United States is only criminally punishable if it occurs after an individual was previously formally removed from the United States and then returned without permission. 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (any individual previously ‘deported or removed’ who ‘enters, attempts to enter, or is at any time found in’ the United States without authorization may be punished by imprisonment up to two years). Mere undocumented presence in the United States alone, however, in the absence of a previous removal order and unauthorized reentry, is not a crime under federal law.”
https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/FINAL_criminalizing_undocumented_immigrants_issue_brief_PUBLIC_VERSION.pdf
So can’t these kidnappings and detentions and deportations to foreign countries and foreign prisons of people with no criminal record be challenged successfully on these grounds?
LikeLike
There’s quite a bit of litigation going on, on the grounds you mention and other grounds too. Each case is different.
LikeLike