How Stephen Miller turned immigration into a staff

In the summer of 2017, a group of White House assistants were in Paris, enjoying a respite during Donald Trump's first trip to France as president.

While Trump officials were spending a July night along the banks of the Seine, one of them went away to take a phone call from the United States. That was Stephen Miller, senior policy adviser, president and speechwriter of the then 31-year-old president. .

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While the other officials were watching, Miller spent several minutes lobbying the administration officials at the other end of the line for them to expel an individual detained by law enforcement authorities. ;immigration.

The episode, told by two former administration officials who knew the case directly, had seemed strange to some of Miller's colleagues. They were well aware of Miller's instability and his pivotal role in Trump's immigration policy. Nevertheless, the efforts of a young White House assistant to dictate the fate of a single detainee were surprising evidence of his deep involvement in the federal government's immigration system.

The former Senate assistant is one of the chief architects of Trump's tough immigration policies – a controversial role asserted when he helped organize a recent evacuation of Department of Homeland Security officials deemed too flexibility in border security. Miller helped shape several of Trump's explosive actions, including an early 2017 decree banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries and the Trump crusade for a Mexican border wall. Most recently, he supported the idea of ​​relocating undocumented immigrants to "sanctuary cities" in the United States, a ploy that has been described as political retaliation by Democratic opponents.

Miller's influence on immigration policy is well known at present, but his general interest in people crossing the US border and his seemingly unprecedented steps to reveal information about his personal background are less well understood.

Shortly after Trump took office, for example, Miller called on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to insist that they insert more details – such as the full names and names criminal charges pending – in news releases about immigrants whom they had apprehended, detained or planned. to deport, according to three current and former DHS officials.

"At one point, he wanted us to publish daily press releases about the people we had detained and their criminal status. We were constantly dancing to stay in a legal place, "said a former DHS official.

US officials say that such a thing has never been done. According to Leon Fresco, an immigration lawyer and senior justice department official with President Barack Obama, disclosing such information could constitute a violation of privacy and possibly prevent them from holding a personal account. a fair hearing.

But a little-noticed provision in a January 2017 decree drafted during the presidential transition with Miller's contribution gave the administration a potential defense against accusations that the government would violate the right to privacy of undocumented migrants. The provision required federal agencies to draft new rules that "exclude persons who are not US citizens or legal permanent residents" from protections under a federal privacy law. DHS then updated its policies in April 2017.

Administration officials have largely resisted Miller's efforts. Nevertheless, there are signs that his efforts to illustrate more clearly what he sees as a threat to undocumented immigrants have an impact. In July 2017, for example, officials from DHS and the Justice Department attended a press conference at the White House during which they presented images of tattoos belonging to MS-13 gang members. , including a sufficient part of the face of an alleged gang member to identify him. Officials also discussed some ongoing criminal cases involving allegations of gang-related violence.

Former ICE interim director, Tom Homan, told POLITICO that he and his colleagues often participated in discussions "at the departmental level about what we could and could not divulge about people".

But Homan, who is part of the group of candidates currently heading DHS, said that he did not recall specific requests for additional information from Miller during his previous term at the DHS. # 39; agency.

Others describe a different reality, stating that Miller's interest in the delicate elements of immigration policy has led him to pressure middle and lower level bureaucrats who would not normally hear of one of the most important advisers to the president at the White House.

A former DHS official said Miller was often on the phone with government officials at all levels. He is generally pressuring them to change immigration rules and regulations and calls for stricter enforcement. But he is also sometimes interested in individual cases.

"We have tried to protect as many people as possible from Miller and his demands," said the former DHS official. "When he started going down lower and calling random career officials, we had to say," If Stephen calls you, raise him immediately and do not answer. "

Miller also has a personalized immigration policy in the White House debates. As reported by POLITICO in August, Trump's advisor often organized meetings with specific horror stories about innocent Americans assaulted or murdered by non-citizens. "We have to save the Americans from these immigrant criminals!" Recalled a former NSC official at an internal meeting, Miller said.

A Miller claim that opposed DHS officials involved a Trump administration program known as the "Victim of Immigration Crime" (VOICE) created for this purpose. A former administration official said Miller was adamant: DHS needs to improve the office and send Barbara Gonzalez, public affairs manager to oversee the VOICE office, to participate more frequently in White House events.

Several officials protested Miller's efforts, saying the office was meant to support victims and their families, not to demonize immigrants by disclosing details about crimes that some have committed.

The year-end figures provided by ICE show that the organization made 158,581 arrests in fiscal year 2018, of which 105,140 were sentenced to criminal convictions and 32,977 were charged. However, the agency does not distinguish between violent and non-violent offenses.

The White House has repeatedly cited personalities arrested by ICE in order to make the connection between illegal immigration and violent crime. Trump even asserted during his State of the Union address in February that "thousands of Americans have been brutally killed by those who have illegally entered our country", even though it is not the only way to get away from it. he did not provide any data to support this statement.

Some White House allies supporting Trump's immigration program say nothing has shaken Miller's immense involvement in DHS affairs. His supervision is necessary, they say, because many DHS career managers seem to want to overthrow the president. They add that Miler is not freelance; it implements a program defined by the president himself.

"The only reason this might be unusual for immigration is that before, the White Houses did not care as much as Trump," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Krikorian added that "the direct pressure exerted by the White House is even more important, because a large part of the bureaucracy charged with the question of immigration tries to prevent the realization of the objectives of the president".

The White House and Miller have not responded to requests for comment.

Miller's advocates at ICE and other jurisdictions have stated that the 2017 Privacy Amendment (Amendment) Decree facilitates the defense of the arrest or expulsion of undocumented immigrants with antecedents criminals.

The new policies can "level the playing field in the media with some of those high-profile cases where ICE may be accused of taking it to someone because it's an activist," he said. said a DHS official, "when you look at criminal history and other derogatory information, this is certainly another reason why ICE would be interested in acting. "

This effort began almost immediately. Trump's internal administration emails, obtained by students at Vanderbilt University Law School and published by The Intercept at the end of 2017, reveal the pressure on ICE officials in the country to they highlight the criminal records of those arrested: "Prepare a white paper three most serious cases,"An ICE official wrote in an email to agency offices across the country. "If a place has only one serious case, include a very serious case from another city."

Some DHS members are extremely uncomfortable with any effort to use the government's resources to paint individual migrants as dangerous.

"There has to be a compelling reason for you to want to do it and nothing I've heard goes up even far to that level," said a former DHS official. "You talk about the federal government highlighting a particular person. There is something wrong with that.

A former White House official said Miller had also asked the White House press agency to publish more press releases and statements about the number of apprehended migrants at the border. , especially those likely to have a criminal background.

"Miller was eager, by all means, to draw the attention of the public to the actions of people here illegally," said the former head of the White House.

"It's no exaggeration to say that Stephen Miller gets up every morning thinking about illegal immigration and falls asleep thinking about it, too," this person added.

Ted Hesson contributed to the reports.