Stephen Miller delivers for Trump: 145,000 US kids separated from their parents | Arwa Mahdawi
US politics | The Guardian — 2026-05-23 07:00:00 — www.theguardian.com
Stephen Miller: The Immigration Architect Who Doesn’t Care
Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s immigration czar and the architect of some of the government’s most controversial policies, recently made headlines for his unapologetic demeanor. In an interview with Fox News’s Jesse Watters, Miller stated, “I have a very, very secure, intact ego,” when asked about his wife Katie Miller’s potential distribution deal for her podcast. He added, “I’ve never had a larger fan following,” and asserted, “[A]ny man who works for President Trump is a man that is very, very strong and self-assured in his role.”
A Legacy of Cruelty
While Miller may feel secure in his role, his legacy is marred by the implementation of the “zero tolerance” border policy during Trump’s first term, which led to the separation of over 5,000 immigrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border. A Human Rights Watch report from December 2024 revealed that as many as 1,360 children had never been reunited with their families.
Despite public outrage, Trump signed an executive order in 2018 to end the family separation policy. However, the practice has continued in different forms. A recent report from the Brookings Institution estimates that more than 145,000 US citizen children have had at least one parent detained since the beginning of Trump’s second administration, a mass deportation campaign heavily influenced by Miller.
Escalating Detentions
Brookings, a reputable nonpartisan think tank, conducted a statistical analysis revealing that over 22,000 children experienced the detention of all their co-resident parents. More than 53,000 of these children are estimated to be under the age of six. This data indicates a significant increase in the number of children affected by parental detentions compared to previous administrations.
ProPublica reported that ICE arrests of parents doubled in the first seven months of Trump’s second term compared to the Biden administration. Furthermore, mothers of US citizen children are being targeted at a much higher rate, with Trump deporting about four times as many mothers per day as Biden did.
Policy Changes and Their Impact
Under Trump, the guidelines for immigration officers have shifted dramatically. The “Parental Interests Directive,” which once emphasized humane treatment of immigrant parents, has been renamed the “Detained Parents Directive,” stripping away any language that promotes compassion. This change reflects a broader trend of callousness towards the welfare of children affected by these policies.
According to the Brookings report, there is no systematic approach to protecting the children of those detained by ICE, and no government entity is responsible for their wellbeing. The lack of adequate record-keeping means the true extent of the trauma inflicted on these children remains largely unknown.
Expert Opinions
Kelly Kribs, an attorney at the Young Center, expressed concerns that the current separation crisis is even more insidious than the previous family separation policy. “It’s leading to all the same forms of trauma that we saw unfold back in 2018,” she stated, noting that the speed and scale of separations now are unprecedented.
The Millers’ Perspective
One might question whether the Millers, who have three children of their own, are affected by the plight of the 145,000 traumatized children. Katie Miller, who shares her husband’s hawkish stance on immigration, once remarked, “DHS sent me to the border to see the separations for myself – to try to make me more compassionate – but it didn’t work.”
Conclusion
Stephen Miller’s recent comments and the policies he has championed reflect a troubling disregard for the human cost of immigration enforcement. As the statistics reveal, the impact of these policies is felt most acutely by vulnerable children, many of whom face lasting trauma. The Millers’ apparent indifference raises critical questions about the moral implications of their actions and the broader consequences of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/23/45000-us-kids-separated-parents-study