More than 100 Democrats sign letter calling for Stephen Miller to resign

More than 100 Democratic lawmakers on Thursday signed on to a letter calling for President Trump to fire senior adviser Stephen Miller as a civil rights group details hundreds of controversial emails he sent prior to his time in the administration.

“Given Mr. Miller’s role in shaping immigration policy for your administration, his documented dedication to extremist, anti-immigrant ideology and conspiracy-mongering is disqualifying,” the lawmakers wrote.

The Democrats wrote that Miller’s ideology manifested itself in the form of several policy decisions, including a travel ban on citizens of several Muslim-majority countries, a decrease in refugee admissions and the decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

“These are just a few obvious examples of Mr. Miller’s white supremacist influence on your immigration policy, and it seems likely that his perfidious adherence to extremist ideology has shaped your administration in ways that are not yet public,” the lawmakers wrote. “Miller’s emails and the sentiments expressed in them are incompatible with public service and render him unfit to shape any policy – immigration or otherwise.”

Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) are among those who led the effort to send the letter to the White House. Other Democrats signing on include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.).

Democrats and civil rights groups have hammered Miller over the past week as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) publishes summaries of emails the White House aide sent in 2015 and 2016 prior to working in the White House.

The emails, roughly two dozen of which have been reviewed by The Hill, contain links and references to publications associated with white nationalism and show how Miller coordinated with Breitbart News to shape coverage around immigration and the 2016 GOP primary.

One exchange from August 2015 shows Miller expressing concern to a then-editor at Breitbart that Mexicans affected by Hurricane Patricia could be granted temporary protected status (TPS).

“That needs to be the weekend’s BIG story. TPS is everything,” Miller wrote to McHugh.

Miller shared with the former editor links to InfoWars, a far-right site that promotes conspiracy theories, and VDare, which publishes white nationalist ideology, according to the emails.

In one exchange from September 2015, Miller references “Camp of Saints,” a dystopian French novel that depicts the decay of Western civilization at the hands of immigrants. 

The White House has offered support for Miller as the SPLC has released additional emails. It has dismissed the organization as “discredited,” pointing to a defamation lawsuit it settled in 2018.

White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley offered a personal defense of Miller in a statement last week.

“I work with Stephen. I know Stephen. He loves this country and hates bigotry in all forms – and it deeply concerns me as to why so many on the left consistently attack Jewish members of this Administration,” Gidley said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Thursday’s letter.

Miller previously worked as an aide to former Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) before joining the Trump campaign. In the time since, he has solidified himself as one of the president’s longest-tenured and most trusted advisers, crafting policy on immigration and writing speeches.