Stephen Miller Rages Wildly at Low Arrests—and Wrecks a Big Trump Scam | The New Republic
PODCAST

Stephen Miller Rages Wildly at Low Arrests—and Wrecks a Big Trump Scam

As Miller’s demands for more arrests demoralize ICE agents, a shrewd immigration observer explains why MAGA’s sadistic anti-immigrant fantasies are undermining Trump’s own arguments and political standing.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in Washington, D.C., on May 6, 2025
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in Washington, D.C., on May 6, 2025

Stephen Miller recently berated ICE officials in a private meeting, demanding that they hit supercharged new arrest quotas and steamrolling anyone who balked, reports The Atlantic. Yet in a surprise twist, the report also details that Miller’s demands for maximum arrests are driving morale at ICE into the crapper. Importantly, what’s irking ICE agents is precisely that the mission of arresting as many low-level offenders as possible is pulling them away from pursuing serious criminals. This brutally unmasks one of Trump’s biggest scams: It demonstrates clearly that his mass deportations are not at all about public safety and are only about getting as many peaceful and noncriminal immigrants out of the country as possible. We talked to one of our favorite observers on this issue, FWD.us president Todd Schulte. He explains how all this reveals the soft underbelly of Trump’s political strength, why MAGA is now addicted vile memes about shackling immigrants, and what ordinary people can do to effectively resist the coming horrors. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.