Trump Appoints Immigration Hard-liner Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff

President-elect Donald Trump has named immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy.
Miller is a former senior advisor to President Donald Trump who recently promised a “100% perfect deportation rate,” while embroiled in a war of words with billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban over immigration policy.
Cuban, who has been a vocal supporter of Harris’ campaign, has engaged in a social media spat with Miller since September 4.
Senator JD Vance, the Vice President-elect, confirmed the pick on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is another fantastic pick by the president. Congrats @StephenM,” Vance posted.
A key architect of Trump’s travel ban and other controversial policies targeting immigrants, he was a regular target of criticism and backlash for his policies and statements. He is the lead writer of Trump’s plans for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Trump has promised to deport illegal immigrants en masse throughout his campaign for the 2024 presidential election. The plan, known as “Operation Aurora,” would assist with what Trump and his allies have called an “invasion” in the US.
Miller said that a second Trump administration would look to increase the number of deportations by tenfold, to more than one million per year. The expected deputy chief of staff for policy had helped Trump with his travel ban, which was in effect for about three months and lowered the number of refugees to be admitted into the United States, suspending entry from countries that don’t meet immigration law standards.
Miller has been accused to preventing the publication of internal administration reports that showed that refugees had a net positive effect on governmental revenues.
Author Jean Guerrerro made a connection in her book “Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump and the White Nationalist Agenda” to Miller acting as the architect to Trump’s border and immigration policies, as well as helping Trump “”conjure an invasion of animals to come steal American jobs and spill American blood.”
Miller, whose policies have been described as anti-immigration and far-right, helped write Trump’s 2017 inaugural address. He also wrote the speech Trump gave at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Since Trump’s loss of the 2020 election, Miller has remained a prominent figure in conservative politics. During the 2024 campaign, Miller was active, introducing Trump at multiple rallies. He also spoke at the Madison Square Garden rally, which raised many concerns around speech toward immigrants and Puerto Ricans.
In the days after his victory, Trump announced one key White House position, saying he plans to name his campaign senior adviser Susie Wiles as his chief-of-staff, a position the Senate will not have to vote to confirm.
Trump has appointed former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan to oversee the protection of all U.S. borders, a role which presents three main priorities.
Speculation is already abound about who Trump may pick for these key roles. Names like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Elon Musk, and Richard Grennell have been raised as potential appointees.
In a recent Truth Social post, the 2024 election winner confirmed that neither Mike Pompeo nor Nikki Haley will join his administration next year.
Update 11/11/24, 12:00 p.m ET: This article has been updated with additional information.