The SPLC actually does us a service by letting us know more about White House advisor Stephen Miller, one of the few Trump advisors to survive nearly four years in the President’s orbit.
Of course the SPLC doesn’t publish its“Extremist File” for our benefit (they use it to scare money out of gullible rich people***), but I found this an interesting read. All you have to do is skip over the writer’s snark and spin and find the events of Miller’s life edifying.
I had to laugh especially when the SPLC blasts Miller for supporting the Duke Lacrosse players when rape allegations ruined their lives, but never mentions that the players were exonerated and Miller was right!
Editor:I had this post ready to go early yesterday before my internet went out for the third time in recent months, so sorry if you have sent e-mails or comments and I missed them. I’m back on line at least for now.
Stephen Miller is credited with shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump, which include the zero-tolerance policy, also known as family separation, the Muslim ban and ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Miller has also “purged” government agencies of civil servants who are not entirely loyal to his extremist agenda, according to a report in Vanity Fair.
Miller with former boss Senator Jeff Sessions. “In the spring of 2013, Miller and Sessions played a key role in ensuring the failure of a comprehensive immigration bill introduced by a bipartisan group of senators who became known as the Gang of Eight. “
And during the COVID-19 crisis, the Trump administration’s decision to halt the issuance of new green cards is yet another example of its hard line on immigration.
Through the conscious use of fearmongering and xenophobia, Miller implements policies which demonize immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, in an apparent effort to halt all forms of immigration to the United States.
[….]
Through his connections to the anti-Muslim movement, Miller landed his first job in Washington, D.C. as a staffer on Capitol Hill. In less than a decade, Miller would go from a congressional staffer to an adviser to the Trump campaign.
During this time, Miller influenced the editorial direction of the highly trafficked conservative website Breitbart.com, sharing white nationalist and anti-immigrant propaganda with their editors in an effort to buoy Trump’s run, according to leaked emails reviewed by Hatewatch. His role in the campaign included crafting then-candidate Trump’s nativist immigration platform, writing campaign speeches as well as being the opening speaker during rallies.
[….]
At a June 16, 2016, campaign rally in Dallas, Miller’s speech made clear the campaign then-candidate Trump was going to run and foreshadowed the nativist policies Miller and the administration would eventually pursue.
In speaking about the impact of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., Miller said, “You’ve seen what it does to living standards. You’ve seen what it does to wages. You’ve seen what it does in terms of transnational cartels. You’ve seen what it has done to the innocent victims of illegal immigrant crime … You have seen the death. You have seen the needless destruction because we can’t secure this border.”
Miller’s use of the state to vilify immigrants has led to calls for his resignation. After Hatewatch’s investigative reporting verified Miller’s white nationalist perspective, more than 80 Democratic members of Congress called for his resignation. Opposition to Miller and his agenda have also surfaced within the rank-and-file civil servants who are charged with discharging the administration’s policies.
If you are new to the immigration restriction movement, you will learn a lot from the SPLC’s hit on Miller.
***But, it is more than scaring money out of rich people, a hit piece like this is meant to remind you that this will happen to you too if you dare stick your neck out and do or say anything like what Miller has said and done.
