Stephen Miller reiterated Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump will spend his first days in office enacting his sweeping plans for mass deportations across the country.
Miller, one of Trump’s closest advisers and a key figure in the president-elect’s far-right immigration agenda, was recently tapped to serve as White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
In a conversation with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, Miller said Trump would issue a series of executive orders on “day one” to “seal the border shut and being the largest deportation operation in American history.”
That effort, he said, would include working with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (Republican, South Dakota) and Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina) to pass a comprehensive border bill when Republicans take control of the chamber in January.
“John Thune and Lindsey Graham have promised that they can get a full funding package for the border, the most significant border security investment in American history, which would be the biggest domestic policy win in at least 50 years, to the president’s desk in January or early February,” Miller said on Sunday.
He laid out a list of boons included in a new border package — an increase in border agents, pay raises for those working there and increased funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Republicans united to tank a similar, bipartisan measure earlier this year after Trump intervened to deny President Joe Biden a legislative victory in an election year.
Trump has long pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States, although it’s unclear how easily he will be able to turn the campaign pledges into reality considering the sheer number of people he’s targeting. Regardless, the effort is sure to harm millions of immigrants and their families and could be even more indiscriminate than the deportation policy enacted during his first term.
Miller claimed Sunday that Trump’s actions on his first day will immediately stem the flow of people seeking to enter the US without authorisation. Other key campaign promises, including broad tax reform, will come later, Miller said, once Trump builds momentum along the border.
“Now, President Trump, regardless on day one, is going to issue a series of executive orders that seal the border shut and begin the largest deportation operation in American history,” the aide said. “It’s something the Republicans have been talking about for decades.”
“But with Donald Trump, this is something that is going to happen.”