Under Trump, more than 145,000 US kids have been separated from their parents, a study shows

Stephen Miller, associated with Trump immigration policy, says he has a secure ego and does not care about nicknames or criticism. He claims that working for President Trump reflects strength and self-assurance. Miller is linked to the zero-tolerance border policy in Trump’s first term, which led to the separation of thousands of immigrant children from parents, including infants. An executive order ended the original family separation policy in 2018, but separation and detention practices continued in different forms. A Brookings Institution analysis estimates that more than 145,000 U.S. citizen children have had at least one parent detained since the start of Trump’s second administration, amid a mass deportation campaign influenced by Miller.

"Stephen Miller, Donald Trump's immigration czar and the architect of some of the government's cruelest policies, doesn't care what you think about him. He doesn't care if you call him Pee-wee German or Weird Stephen or Voldemort, or any of the other nicknames he has inspired; his self-esteem is excellent. I have a very, very secure, intact ego, Miller told Fox News's Jesse Watters this week after being asked how he felt about his wife, Katie Miller, potentially landing a big distribution deal with Paramount for her terrible Maga podcast."

"Well, yes, I suppose you've got to be a very, very strong man to separate babies from their parents — which is what Miller will forever be famous for. Back in Trump 1.0, Miller played a key role in implementing a zero tolerance border policy that systematically removed more than 5,000 immigrant children, some just a few months old, from their parents at the US-Mexico border."

"A Human Rights Watch report released in December 2024 found that as many as 1,360 children had never been reunited with their parents. Swayed by all the outrage, Trump eventually signed an executive order ending the family separation policy in 2018. But the practice continues, albeit in a different form. A report released on Monday from the Brookings Institution estimates that more than 145,000 US citizen children have had at least one parent detained since the start of Trump's second administration, amid a mass deportation campaign heavily influenced by Miller."

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