Stephen Miller fails?
Indeed, Miller has amassed unprecedented power for a White House deputy chief of staff. It exerts extraordinary influence over an unusually large swath of government, from immigration to criminal justice and even military operations on American soil. Much of what defines public life in the Trump era—masked kidnappings on U.S. streets, confrontations between ICE thugs and protesters, military patrols in U.S. cities—was Miller's work. His ever-present, unctuous grin suggests that he clearly enjoys the cruel hatred that all this has engendered.
But now one year into President Trump's second term, it is clear that in many important ways Miller is failing to realize his most sophisticated authoritarian designs. The deportations did not live up to his hopes. He has not persuaded Trump to exercise the dictatorial power he so longs to see. And he ushered in a cultural moment for immigrants that was more powerful than anything he expected.
Miller entered Trump's second term bursting with arrogance, but that bubble quickly deflated. Last spring, just a few months into the new term, he was I'm already squealing to myself senior ICE officials over unremarkable deportations, angrily demanding that 3,000 illegal immigrants be arrested a day.
Nine months later, Miller is still two-thirds short of that goal: arrests currently on average about 1100 per day. Yes, that's a lot of people, and unfortunately high interest of which are people without a criminal record. Many immigrants whose only crime was entering the country illegally in search of a better life are now suffering terribly, which certainly makes Miller very happy.
But Miller's dream of 3,000 arrests a day remains a dream. And that's a good thing, because quantity is essential to achieving the larger goal. Miller hope deport one million people a year, and the current rate doesn't come close to that. While ICE is still staffing and deportations may increase, many experts expect Trump and Miller to fall far short of their goal of one million a year throughout his term.
